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By Our Correspondent ©2004 Bollyvista.com |
Rajiv Bhatia (whose screen name is Akshay Kumar) started humble more than a decade back with C-grade films like 'Saugandh' and 'Mr. Bond'. He never made it big then but began getting noticed for the sheer volume of work he notched up and because of his tough and good looks. For several years, Akshay continued to act in a spate of mediocre projects and bagged the tag of a dependable action hero. He also found a place for himself in every film newspaper and glossy for the umpteen number of flings he had with almost each and every one of his female co-stars. He also became a gay icon of sorts.
Celebrated filmmaker Rajiv Rai gave Akshay his first real break in 'Mohra'. His songs, 'Tu Cheez Badi Hai Mast Mast' and 'Tip Tip Barsa Paani' became smash hits and Akshay was declared a star. His romance with Raveena Tandon blossomed during his 'Mohra' days and the two carried on for nearly five to six years before getting engaged. In the mean time, the industry began taking Akshay more seriously but as an action hero. He got the 'khiladi' label when he did a string of movies whose titles had this word: 'Khiladi', 'Main Khiladi Tu Anari', 'Sabse Bada Khiladi', 'Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi', 'Mr. & Mrs. Khiladi', 'Main Khiladi Tu Anari' and 'International Khiladi'. Sadly for him, the 'khiladi' word didn't prove lucky in the case of the last three films (named above) which bombed.
Some years back Akshay went through a bad phase both personally and professionally. Personally, his father passed away and it was splistville for Raveena and Akshay. He got a bout of bad press when Raveena ungracefully went all over town slandering him and giving interviews against him. To Akshay's credit, he maintained dignity and a stoic silence by saying, "It's disgusting to wash your dirty linen in public." Professionally, he began delivering flop after flop. The number reached six. He was this close to being written off when 'Dhadkan' happened. Not surprisingly, his affair with co-star Shilpa Shetty took off around that time. After 'Dhadkan', Akshay gave some more flops, but managed to stabilise his career graph with the mediocre success of 'Ek Rishta - The Bond of Love', 'Aankhen', 'Hera Pheri', 'Ajnabee' (in which he had a negative role), 'Awara, Paagal, Deewana' and 'Andaaz'. Incidentally, even while he was seeing Shilpa, his affair with Twinkle Khanna had started during the making of 'International Khiladi' in Canada. In December 2000, Akshay and Twinkle got engaged, and tied the knot at a hushed affair in January 2001. More than a year later they had a son, Araav.
With a number of big-budget films on hand, Akshay is easily in the TOP 5 of Bollywood with an enormous fan following among men and women. In his recent release, 'Khakee', he has depicted an interesting flair for comedy which adds a different dimension to his versatility.
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