Akshay Kumar has often faced criticism for holding a Canadian passport. The actor in an interview has revealed to have applied for an Indian passport renouncing his Canadian citizenship.
“India is everything to me… Whatever I have earned, whatever I have gained is from here. And I’m fortunate that I get a chance to give back. You feel bad when people say things without knowing anything…,” the 55-year-old star said.
He recalls the time when he delivered 15 flops continuously and decided to quit the industry and so applied for citizenship with the help of a friend in Canada.
“I had just two films left for release and it is just luck that they both became superhit. My friend said, ‘go back, start working again’. I got some more films and I kept getting more work. I forgot that I had the passport. I never thought that I should get this passport changed but now yes, I have applied to get my passport changed, and once I get the renounced status from Canada…” Akshay’s citizenship became a topic of debate after an interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2019 just before the Lok Sabha elections.
Akshay Kumar is known for films like Hera Pheri, Namastey London, and Padman, and patriotic ones like Mission Mangal. He had a lean phase in his career in the 90s which is when he applied for Canadian passport to earn a livelihood.