They can call me whatever: Akshay reacts to trolls calling him 'Canada' Kumar

Actor shared that he didn't even know what nepotism meant until wife Twinkle Khanna told him

Filmmaker Karan Johar welcomed actors Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Akshay Kumar in the new episode of Koffee With Karan Season 7. During the show, when Akshay was asked if he gets trolled, he talked about being trolled for his Canadian passport. The B-town star was heavily trolled back in 2019 after he applied for his Canadian citizenship and didn't cast a vote during the Lok Sabha polls.

When Karan asked Akshay if he gets trolled, the actor replied that he doesn't go online much. He added, “At the most, they write about Canada, which I don't care.” Karan then pointed out, “The trolls call you Canada Kumar.” Akshay then replied, “Yeah Canada Kumar. Okay call me that”. Karan then inquired if he gets trolled for doing films with younger actresses. Akshay replied with, “They do because they are jealous. Why shouldn't I? I can work with them. Lagta hun kya 55 ka (Do I look 55)?"

KJo asked, "Do you think you combatted nepotism?" to which Akshay revealed he did not even know what the word meant when first entered the industry. "I didn't even know meaning of nepotism. I asked my wife (Twinkle Khanna) and then she explained it to me. Then I saw the whole fighting. When I came in the industry, I had no idea. I just wanted to earn money."

Akshay recalled getting paid INR5,000 for teaching martial arts but when he got an ad shoot, he got paid INR21,000 for two hours of work. Speaking about working on the sets of director Rajkumar Kohli’s Jaani Dushman, the actor said, “I was on a per-day basis. The scene was the villain kills me and I am dead. I came to know that the other hero who was going to be acting, was now stuck in New York; he wasn’t not coming.” The other hero was Sunny Deol who was in the US for his back surgery during the shoot.

Akshay then went to the director and asked for an extension of his role. “I actually went and asked the director ‘should I come back?’ What he did you will not believe," he recalled. Akshay said the director instantly agreed to tweak the storyline and extended the actor's on-screen timing. And, from this extra money came the downpayments that Akshay made to secure his Juhu bungalow where he, Twinkle and their children currently reside.

During the rapid-fire round, the actor was asked about the marriage advice he would give to Ranbir Kapoor. To this, Akshay had the simplest yet wisest words for Ranbir. "Happy wife, happy life," he said. Apart from this, Akshay also had a little something to say to another newlywed couple, Katrina Kaif and Vicky Kaushal. For Katrina, the actor said, “I know her very well, so, Katrina, don't eat his ears off… just slowly nibble it." As for Vicky, Akshay hilariously advised him to make a home gym for Katrina if he wished to see more of her at home.

Akshay will be seen next in Raksha Bandhan, written by Himanshu Sharma and Kanika Dhillon. The movie is all set to release on August 11, 2022. Apart from Akshay, the film also features Bhumi Pednekar, Sadia Khateeb, Sahejmeen Kaur, Deepika Khanna and Smrithi Srikanth.

Apart from Raksha Bandhan, he will also be seen in OMG 2 – Oh My God! 2. The film will also star Pankaj Tripathi, Yami Gautam and Arun Govil. Akshay also has Selfiee in the pipeline, also starring Emraan Hashmi. The drama-comedy, being directed by Raj Mehta of Good Newwz fame, is a remake of the 2019 Malayalam-language comedy-drama Driving Licence.