‘Canada’ Kumar no more: Akshay Kumar gives up Canadian citizenship

Akshay Kumar, who had faced criticism for his Canadian citizenship, has now given it up and has been granted Indian citizenship. The famed Bollywood actor shared this news on his country's Independence Day, August 15. In an Instagram post, he shared the registration document with a caption that read, "Dil aur citizenship, dono Hindustani. Happy Independence Day! Jai Hind!"

Previously, Akshay Kumar had expressed his disappointment when people would troll him for holding a Canadian passport and question his "love for the country." According to Filmfare, in response to these claims, the OMG 2 actor shared in an interview that  "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 had initially applied for Indian citizenship in 2019, but the process was delayed owing to the Covid-19 pandemic, which was catastrophic for India. "I never thought that I should get this passport changed but now yes, I have applied to get my passport changed...” the Hera Pheri actor shared. 

However, while Kumar was trolled for holding Canadian citizenship, the 55-year-old actor could not escape the trolls this time around either. Recently, the trolls seemed to focus more on his decision to relinquish citizenship from a country where there is a massive Indian diaspora as they travel in pursuit of better prospects. One user commented, “Imagine leaving citizenship of a first-world country because a bunch of nobodies trolled you".

As for his acting career, Kumar's OMG 2 has just been released in Indian theatres last week, in which he stars alongside Pankaj Tripathi and Yami Gautam.

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