‘Dil aur citizenship dono Hindustani’: Akshay Kumar gets Indian citizenship on Independence Day 

Bollywood actor and producer Akshay Kumar got his Indian citizenship on the occasion of the 77th Independence Day. The OMG 2 actor-producer confirmed the development in a tweet. 

Kumar said in a post on X formerly Twitter: “Dil aur citizenship, dono Hindustani. Happy Independence Day! Jai Hind! (sic)”. 

Earlier this year, the actor announced his decision to renounce his Canadian passport. The actor has often faced criticism over the issue of his citizenship. In February this year, Kumar told Aaj Tak in an interview that India means everything to him and whatever he has earned is from here. The actor further said that he feels bad when people comment on his Canadian citizenship without knowing the reason behind it.

"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…," Kumar said in the interview.

Akshay Kumar’s citizenship became a talking point when he said in 2017 that he is an honorary citizen of Canada. His citizenship had also become a point of contention after an interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2019 before the Lok Sabha elections.

The actor-producer, known for films like Namastey London, Good Newwz, Selfiee, OMG 2, and Ram Setu, also talked about a lean phase in his career in the 1990s when he delivered more than 15 flops.

“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,” he said. The actor said he had only two films left for release, which turned out to be superhits.

“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,” he said.

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