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The origins story of how Delhi-born Rajiv Bhatia became a country wide popular name Akshay Kumar finds roots in the actor’s debut film. The Hindi film star has spilled the beans on why he changed his name to Akshay Kumar.
In an interview with Galatta Plus, the actor was asked what was his first day like on the sets of Aaj, his debut film directed by Mahesh Bhatt. The film starred Raj Babbar, Smita Patil and Kumar Gaurav. Aaj featured Akshay Kumar in a special appearance. “Do you know what was Kumar Gaurav’s name in the film? Akshay! That’s how I got my name. Not many people know this,” Akshay said and laughed about the origins story of his name. “So, my real name is Rajeev and during the shoot I just casually asked what is the name of the hero in the film, they said Akshay, I told them, I want to keep my name as Akshay!”
When asked if he didn’t want to retain his original name because there was already a Rajiv Kapoor, Akshay said that wasn’t the case at all and added, “Rajiv is a good name and I think back then Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister or something. So, it was a great name but I changed it just aise hi.
“It wasn’t like some pandit advised me to change my name! My father also asked me, ‘What’s wrong with you?’ but I told him the same, that the hero’s name in my first film was this so I will keep it!”
Akshay was a prominent actor of the 90s, rising steadily thanks to his action films which existed parallelly with the big scale films of the three Khans– Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman. Off late, the actor has been struggling with poor box office of his films. Barring Sooryavanshi and OMG 2, every film of the actor post pandemic has bombed. His recent film outing, Sarfira, has taken the lowest opening of his career in recent times. Akshay Kumar will be next seen in the comedy Khel Khel Mein.
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