Akshay Kumar on his Canadian passport, why he isn’t an Indian citizen yet: ‘I applied for it but pandemic happened’
Akshay Kumar, the face of Hindi cinema’s nationalism of recent times, doesn’t have an Indian passport yet and the actor points the reason to the coronavirus pandemic which had got the world to a halt. In 2019, following a controversy over his citizenship, Akshay Kumar had said that he would replace his Canadian passport with an Indian one.
During the latest edition of Hindustan Times Leadership Summit, when asked about the status of his passport, Kumar said he knew he would be asked this question. “Having a Canadian passport doesn’t say I am any less of an Indian. I am very much Indian. I got my passport may be nine years ago. I don’t want to get into the reason, why, what happened, my films weren’t doing well and blah, blah.
“Yes I had said that in 2019. Then I applied for it, but then after that pandemic happened and everything was shut for two and a half years. I have received my renounce letter and very soon my passport will be coming,” the actor said.
Akshay had earlier opened up about his citizenship and said he feels hurt if people question his love for the country. The actor is often ridiculed being called “Canadian Kumar”.
“I feel sad that people have stuck to this point that I have to show my passport to prove that I’m an Indian. It hurts me. So I don’t want to give anyone an opportunity and so I have applied for it,” Akshay had said in 2019.
This year, the actor delivered four consecutive flops adding to a largely dull year that Bollywood has witnessed at the box office. Akshay said it is time to dismantle everything and begin again.
Akshay, who according to multiple industry sources is the highest paid Bollywood actor, said even he has slashed his fee today. “I have to reduce my price at least 30-40 percent…. It is recession time also; we have to understand the pain of the audience. They also have a limited amount of money to spend on entertainment. Everything has to change.”
This year, Akshay was seen on the big screen in Bachchhan Paandey, Samrat Prithviraj, Raksha Bandhan and Ram Setu, all box office duds.
