Akshay Kumar addresses his citizenship change, amid India-Canada tensions

Akshay Kumar’s citizenship has been scrutinized for years. The actor had Canadian citizenship for many years and faced relentless trolling over the past decade, especially when he endorsed national issues related to India. 

The actor relinquished his Canadian citizenship only last year and obtained an Indian passport. While he claimed the decision was not driven by external pressure, the constant criticism he faced has remained with him. Amid ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Canada, Akshay recently discussed the timing of his citizenship change, attributing it to the blessings of his parents. 

The actor spoke at a recent leadership Summit where he was asked which baba’s (saint) blessings facilitated the change at such a strategic moment, just before relations between the two countries went sour. He clarified, “Not any baba, it was the blessings of my parents. Main chup chaap nikal gaya (I left without making a noise). I had applied for it a long time back, during the Covid pandemic time.”

The actor revealed he had applied for Canadian citizenship in the 1990s when as many as 15 of his films had tanked at the box office in a row. 

He explained, “My films were not working at the time. And a person needs work (to survive). I was getting some work there in a cargo with a friend of mine. But then two of my movies were up for release and they became hits. Then I got a bunch of more hits and forgot about it (Canadian citizenship).”

“I am an Indian from my mind, heart and soul, and will always be. So I never cared about that. But about 3-4 years back, I had said that I will give it up. But it took some time and last year, exactly on August 14 or 15, I got my passport. I came out of it,” he added. 

On Independence Day last year, Akshay shared a picture of his Indian citizenship documents on Instagram, noting, “Dil aur citizenship, dono Hindustani (Both my heart and passport are Indian now). Happy Independence Day! Jai Hind!” he wrote as the caption.

Akshay Kumar was last seen in Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again which has been doing well at the box office. 

The film, which marks his return as DCP Veer Sooryavanshi from the filmmaker’s Cop Universe, also stars Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Tiger Shroff and Arjun Kapoor, among others. 

In her review of the movie, WION’s Shomini Sen wrote,” Singham Again isn’t a bad film but it isn’t a great one either. It gets stuck in limbo- treading the tested waters with a story too well known. So many actors join in, yet none leave a defining mark.”Read full review here