Akshay Kumar gives up Canadian passport after recurrent backlash

'I’m hurt that I still have to prove my nationality' says the actor after applying for an Indian passport

Ever since Bollywood star Akshay Kumar announced that he is set to give up his Canadian passport and resume Indian citizenship, netizens have been having a field day on social media. Speaking at the HT Summit, the action star shared why he opted for a foreign passport in the first place. "There was a time when 14 films of mine flopped and I thought that I might have to take up something else to support myself,” he said.

The actor added, “One of my closest friend lives in Canada and he asked me to come there. I started the process because I thought my career has ended. It was just that my 15^th film worked and after that I never looked back. I continued acting but I never thought of getting my passport replaced.”

Reacting to his statements, one Twitter user wrote, "Akshay Kumar changed his citizenship from Indian to Canadian just because he gave 14 flops. Aur Ye Hume Deshbhakti Seekhayenge (And he will teach us how to be patriotic).”

Another added, "This Akshay Kumar has applied for Indian passport and citizenship now that his pathetic movies are doing well at the box office. Make up your mind. You’re a hypocrite.” Akshay revealed his wife Twinkle Khanna are both Indian passport holders.

He mentioned he has now applied for one because it hurts him to hear nasty stuff from his fans. Responding to this, another Twitter user shared, "Gonna tell my kids this guy became patriot overnight after his Canadian citizenship got exposed!”

One user brought in other Bollywood actors into the controversy too. "Just watched Canadian Akshay Kumar’s latest video where he said he applied for Canadian citizenship because he gave 14 flops in row. Kya reason hai. Success mil nahi raha hai toh Canada bhaag jao (What kind of logic is this? If you’re not getting success, you should run to Canada),” read the post, also taking a dig at Akshay’s contemporaries whose past few films have not performed well. “Abhishek Bachchan and Vivek Oberoi are both still staying in India and are patriotic,” it added.

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