Akshay Kumar is a renowned Indian movie actor, television presenter, martial artist as well as a movie producer who has enacted in more than 125 movies and was honoured with an Honorary Doctorate of Law by the University of Windsor in the year 2008 for his immense contribution to Indian movie industry. The Government of India conferred the Padma Shri Award to Kumar in 2009 and he was nominated numerable times for the Filmfare Awards, which he won twice. Akshay Kumar won unparallel fame for his performances in movies involving `Khiladi` (1992), `Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi` (1996), `Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi` (1997), `Suhaag` (1994), `Sangharsh` (1999) in the initial phase of his career. Later, his role in movies like `Dhadkan` (2000), `Waqt: The Race Against Time` (2005), `Garam Masala` (2005), `Housefull 2` (2012), `Rowdy Rathore` (2012), `Special 26` (2013) earned him enough praise for his versatility exhibited through his comedy, drama and romantic roles.

All of the films were critically acclaimed and commercially successful. By the 2007, Akshay established himself as a major leading actor in Hindi cinema by starring in 4 consecutive commercially hit films. Akshay Kumar is also well known for performing the various stunts and action scenes himself in his movies. Kumar is often revered as the `Indian Jackie Chan` for the many dangerous stunts performed by him in all his movies. Early Life of Akshay Kumar

Akshay Kumar was born as Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia on 9th September 1967 in Amritsar, Punjab to a Punjabi family. His father was an army officer. Aruna Bhatia is his mother and Akshay Kumar was quite interested in dancing and acting since a tender age. He was brought up in Chandni Chowk, Delhi prior to his shift to Mumbai in Maharashtra. He resided in Koliwada and attended Don Bosco School in Mumbai. Thereafter, he studied at Guru Nanak Khalsa College in Mumbai. He also possesses a sister known as Alka Bhatia. He also studied martial arts from Bangkok, Thailand and scored a black belt in `Taekwondo` in India. While in Thailand, he imbibed knowledge in `Muay Thai`. He again started teaching martial arts when he came back to Mumbai. Eventually, he was inspired to take up modelling when one of his students offered him a recommendation as a model. Finally, he was selected for major role for the movie named `Deedar` by the producer Pramod Chakravarty.

Movie Career of Akshay Kumar
In the year 1991, Kumar made his debut film `Saugandh` and the next year he received an offer for `Khiladi` which was a thriller movie. During the 1990`s, movies like `Main Khiladi Tu Anari`, `Mohra`, `Yeh Dillagi`, `Sabse Bada Khiladi`, `Khiladiyon ka Khiladi` and several more movies opened new avenues for Akshay Kumar, where he was blessed with golden opportunity to appear in diverse roles. His action movies have proven to be amongst the best box office super-hits. `Khiladi 420` saw Kumar demonstrating some fatal stunts in which he had climbed into a running plane and leaped downwards on a hot air balloon from the top of the plane which was flying at a height of about 1000 feet into the air.

Akshay Kumar has also experimented with negative shades with movies like `Ajnabee` (2001) which was quite successful and enabled him to win his very first Filmfare Award for Best Villain and also the IIFA Award, 2002 for Performance in a Negative Role. `Mujhse Shaadi Karogi` (2004), `Awara Paagal Deewana` (2002) and `Garam Masala` (2005) were some his comedy movies which were well received at the box office. The actor was awarded the Filmfare Award for Best Comedian for his unique role as comedian in all these hilarious movies. Akshay proved his flair for dramatic roles in movies like `Ek Rishtaa: The Bond of Love` (2001), `Aankhen` (2002), `Bewafaa` (2005) and `Waqt: The Race Against Time` (2005). In 2006 he starred in a sequel to `Hera Pheri` titled `Phir Hera Pheri` and `Bhagam Bhag`. The movies were a huge success at the box office.

His next four releases, `Namastey London`, `Heyy Baby`, `Bhool Bhulaiya` and `Welcome` received blockbuster status at the box office and were released in the year 2007. A majority of his movies performed exceedingly well even internationally in this year. `Singh is Kinng` (2008) also proved lucrative as it broke the first week records of the Shah Rukh Khan starrer `Om Shanti Om`.Akshay Kumar entered the small screen in 2008 when he started hosting `Fear Factor - Khatron Ke Khiladi` and he returned to this show during 2009, in its second season.

In the year 2009, Akshay did not see much success with his next releases like `Tashan`, `Chandni Chowk to China`, `8x10 Tasveer`, `Kambakkht Ishq`, `Blue` and others. In 2010 Akshay Kumar starred in Sajid Khan`s comedy, `Housefull` which faired well. Kumar`s next releases were Priyadarshan`s `Khatta Meetha`, Vipul Shah`s `Action Replay`, Farah Khan`s `Tees Maar Khan` and Nikhil Advani`s `Patiala a House` (2011) and Anees Bazmee`s `Thank You` (2011). His last release was `Desi Boyz` (2011), which was directed by Rohit Dhawan and featured John Abraham and Chitrangada Singh as well. Akshay Kumar recently produced the film `Speedy Singhs` (Breakaway). Although the Hindi version of the film was not a blockbuster hit, but the English version `Breakaway` has become the highest-grossing movie in Canada.

Other popular movies in which Kumar was praiseworthy amongst his fans includes `Housefull 2` (2012), `Rowdy Rathore` (2012), `OMG: Oh My God` (2012), `Khiladi 786` (2012) and others. In the year 2013, he acted in the movie `Special Chabbis` which was fairly appreciated.

Personal Life of Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar got married to stunning actress Twinkle Khanna, daughter of Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, on 17th January 2001. The couple had a son named Aarav who was born in September 2002. They also have a daughter Nitara, who was born to them on 25th September, 2012. Akshay is an expert martial artist and also plays other sports like basketball and swimming.

Awards Received by Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar has been applauded with innumerable awards for his style of acting. He received The Asian Awards in the year 2011 for his excellent contribution to the field of Indian movies and the Rajiv Gandhi Award for his achievements in Hindi movie industry. He was honoured with the 2009 IIFA-FICCI Frames for being the Most Powerful Entertainer of the Decade Award in Indian cinema. He won the Big Star Entertainment Awards in 2013 for three categories: Complete Entertainer of the Year - Male, Most Entertaining Actor in an Action Thriller Role - Male for Rowdy Rathore and Most Entertaining Social Film for OMG: Oh My God! He has also been the recipient of Stardust Star of the Year Award - Male for Housefull 2, OMG: Oh My God and Rowdy Rathore, Dadasaheb Phalke Academy Awards in 2013 as Best Actor for Rowdy Rathore and numerous more.

Filmography of Akshay Kumar