Akshay Kumar

Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, better known by his stage name Akshay Kumar, is an Indian-born Canadian actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films.

Akshay Kumar won the National Film Award for Best Actor for his performance in Rustom and he has been nominated for Filmfare Awards several times, winning it two times.

Box Office India listed Kumar as one of the most successful actors in the history of Indian cinema. In February 2013, many media outlets reported that the net box-office collection of Kumar's films had crossed ₹20 billion (US$310 million) and he was the first and the only Bollywood actor to do so. Having done so, he has established himself as a leading contemporary actor of Hindi cinema.

Akshay Kumar has also worked as a stunt actor; he has often performed many dangerous stunts in his films, which has earned him the sobriquet "Indian Jackie Chan". In 2008, he hosted the show Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi. The next year, he founded the Hari Om Entertainment production company. In 2012, he founded another production company called Grazing Goat Pictures. In 2014, Kumar launched TV realty show Dare 2 Dance. He also owns the team Khalsa Warriors in the World Kabaddi League. In 2015, Kumar was ranked 9th in Forbes' first global list of highest-paid actors in the world.

In 2008, the University of Windsor conferred an Honorary Doctorate on Kumar in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema. The following year he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In 2011, The Asian Awards honoured Kumar for his outstanding achievement in Cinema.