India is everything to me: Akshay Kumar on decision to give up Canadian passport

Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar, who has often faced criticism over his Canadian citizenship, says India is everything to him and has already applied for a passport change.

He feels bad when people say things without knowing the reason behind his taking Canadian citizenship, Akshay said in an interview on the first episode of the new season of Seethi Bhat in Aajtak.

“India is everything to me… Everything I have earned is from here. I am blessed to have the opportunity to give back. You feel sad when people speak without knowing anything…,” the 55-year-old star said.

Akshay, known for films like “Hera Pheri”, “Namaste London”, “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha” and “Batman”, also spoke about a lean phase in his career when he delivered more than 15 flops. This was in the 1990s. The poor box office performance of his films pushed him to apply for Canadian citizenship, he said.

I thought, “Boy, my films are not working, one must work”, I went there for a job, my friend is in Canada, he said “come here”, I applied and got in.

“I had two films left for release and luckily both were superhits. My friend said, ‘Go back, start working again’. I got a few more films and I got work. I forgot I had it. I never thought of changing this passport, But now yes, I have applied to change my passport and once I get renounced status from Canada…” Akshay’s citizenship is under discussion after an interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.