India is everything to me: Akshay on renouncing Canadian passport

NEW DELHI: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, who has often faced criticism over his Canadian citizenship, says India is everything to him and he has already applied for a change of passport.

He feels bad when people say things without knowing the reason for him taking up Canadian citizenship, Akshay said in an interview in the first episode of the new season of Seedhi Baat on Aajtak.

"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.

Akshay, known for his films such as "Hera Pheri", "Namastey London", "Toilet: Ek Prem Katha" and "Padman", 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 that 'bhai, my films are not working and one has to work'. I went there for work. My friend was in Canada and he said, 'come here'. I applied and I got in.

"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.