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Amid India-Canada diplomatic row, Akshay Kumar discusses timing of his citizenship change: ‘Main chup chaap nikal gaya’

Amid ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Canada, Akshay Kumar recently discussed the timing of his citizenship change, attributing it to the blessings of his parents.

Akshay Kumar hurts his eyes on sets of Housefull 5.(Image: Akshay/Facebook)

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar’s citizenship had been a subject of debate for years, with the actor facing relentless trolling over the past decade for holding Canadian citizenship, particularly while endorsing national causes pertaining to India. After years of effort and wait, Akshay finally relinquished his Canadian citizenship last year, obtaining an Indian passport and putting the controversy to rest. Although he has claimed that his decision was not driven by external pressure, the constant criticism he faced remains an undeniable part of his experience.

Amid ongoing diplomatic tensions between India and Canada, Akshay recently discussed the timing of his citizenship change, attributing it to the blessings of his parents. Speaking at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2024, he was humorously asked which baba’s (saint) blessings facilitated the change at such a strategic moment, just before relations between the two countries deteriorated. He clarified, “Not any baba, it was the blessings of my parents. Main chup chaap nikal gaya (I left without making a noise). I had applied for it a long time back, during the Covid pandemic time.”

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Akshay had applied for Canadian citizenship back in the 1990s when as many as 15 of his films tanked at the box office in a row. He explained, “My films were not working at the time. And a person needs work (to survive). I was getting some work there in a cargo with a friend of mine. But then two of my movies were up for release and they became hits. Then I got a bunch of more hits and forgot about it (Canadian citizenship).”

“I am an Indian from my mind, heart and soul, and will always be. So I never cared about that. But about 3-4 years back, I had said that I will give it up. But it took some time and last year, exactly on August 14 or 15, I got my passport. I came out of it,” he added. On Independence Day of 2023, Akshay shared a picture of his Indian citizenship documents on Instagram, noting, “Dil aur citizenship, dono Hindustani (Both my heart and passport are Indian now). Happy Independence Day! Jai Hind!” he wrote as caption.

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Following a series of box-office failures, Akshay is now basking in the massive success of director Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again. The film, which marks his return as DCP Veer Sooryavanshi from the filmmaker’s Cop Universe, also stars Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Deepika Padukone, Ranveer Singh, Tiger Shroff and Arjun Kapoor, among others. The film has grossed Rs 344.1 crore worldwide in just 18 days, industry tracker Sacnilk reported.

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In her review of the movie, SCREEN’s Shubhra Gupta wrote, “It’s all so same-old in Ajay Devgn-Rohit Shetty’s Singham Again that even the new locations don’t help. Neither does all the blatant-referencing-and-copy-pasting of Ramayan.”

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