Biography
Dear me ...
Hi, Im Akhay Kumar. Im six foot one and weigh 80 kilos, though at times I wish I were two inches taller.I was born in old Dehli. When I was a child we used to stay in Chandni Chowk, on a street called Parothewali Galli, explains why I cant resist parothas (comment of the writer: parothas is a sort of Indian bread) even today!
My father worked for UNICEF. Having been a sportsman himself – he was a wrestler in his younger days – he always encouraged me to participate in sports.He used to tell me that if I wasnt brilliant in studies it was okay, as long as I was selected vice-captain of my school volleyball team.
He used to accompany me to every match. None of the other students parents came but Dad used to take half day off from work and come for every match. In between sets, he would give the players water to drink and even wipe the perspiration from my forchead with a towel!
Now that Im an actor, he is my biggest fan. He has watched every film of mine, even the flop ones, many times over. He saw "Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi" 13 times! B ut more than that, I am a big fan of his. I admire him and would like to be just like him. He is patience personified, cool even in the worst of situations. Altough we were not financially well-off earlier, he made us feel very secure. He never allowed us to feel as if we were lacking in anything.
Saturday was his day off, so every Saturday he took us all to watch a film at rupam cinema.It was our regular cinema and the management always kept tickets for the Saturday evening show for us.
I have always been very attached to my mother. Even today, whenever she is out of town, I fall ill. When I go for outdoor schedules, I fall ill.
My sister is closest to me. She is the one who knows all my secrets. I have never cried as much as I did the day she got married. Today although she stays in Mumbai, I still miss her a lot and makes sure she lives with us atleast for a few days every month.
She has been my worst critic. And I make it a point to show her all my films because, she would pointblank tell me if the film is good or bad. She can smell a bad film from a mile. If she listen to just one song of a film, she can tell how good the film will be.
Sometimes I narrate a script to her before signing a film. There were times hen she and my family did not like a script I had narrated but when I went ahead and did the film, thinking I knew it all. But in the end, they were right.
Since childhood, my sister has been a very talented painter. In fact, for my bedroom in the new house she has painted ten-foot long oil painting.
My strong point, on the other hand, has always been sports. I have been connected with the word "khiladi" ever since my schooldays. I used to play volleyball and cricket. There was also a game called sqareball which was played only in our school, Don Boscos. No other school knew it. Its a very rough game in which you hit the opponent with a football and try to knock him down. Sometimes I remember, boys used to fall flat on their faces and injure themselves.
In the school, we had a small gang called the "bloody 10". There was Thomas, Ramson, Charles, Amit, Jignesh, Rohit Shetty, Monty and me. They have all gone their separate ways.
Amit is a homeopath somewhere outside Mumbai. Ramson, I have heard, has become a lawyer. Charles is into politics. Jignesh is into rice business so we tease him "baniya".
When I meet them today, they say, "Kamaal kiya yaar (comment of the writer: well done, friend) we never thought you would become a film star!" I tell them even I never imagined it! Its just a coincidence.
In my childhood my parents had got my 'kundali made many times, but no astrologer had ever predicted that I would become a star.
Another friend of mine from school, I remember, was Ashok Shandilya, who is now one of Indias best snooker players.
He used to sit with me in class. I still remember once our whole group was angry with him so we put a laxative in his "paan". He had a very "loose" day after that!
Unfortunatley, I havent been able to get in touch with him after school. I hope he reads this and calls me up.
Through a friend in school that I first came to know about martial arts.
I was very thin at the time, weighing barely 60 kilos. Watching my friend become tougher day by day, thanks karate, I began to feel insecure and so I asked him to take me along.
Later I got so involved in it that I continued to go, long after he lost interest.
My father had promised me, that if I going to get a first clas in my board exams he would send me to Bangkok to study martial arts. I scored 63 percent so he paid for me flight ticket, which, at that time, cost hardly Rs. 1500.
In Bangkok, I was received at the airport by my uncle and he got me a job at the Metro Guest House. My first salary was 1000 baht (around Rs. 1500). It was more than enough to survive.
At night, I slept in the kitchen. In the plush "bedroom" there was a video and TVon which I watched Hindi films. I remember "Himmatwala", "Tohfaa"... We used to love Sridevis films.
During the day, we used to dance to the songs of the films while cooking. Inspite of the hard life, we really enjoyed ourselves.
My teachers name was Kim Ling Chang. He used to take us for a film and ask to watch it carefully. Later he would ask questions like: "What was the color of the heros shoes?" or "In which hand did the villain pick up the glass of water?"
If we couldnt answer, he would give us a hard knock on the head.
But this training in observation helps me today in acting as well as in life. I do not forget a person or his mannerisms once I met him.
When I returned from Bangkok, I first went to Calcutta, where I worked as a peon in a travel agency for a year and a half. Then for six month I worked in Dhaka. From there I went to Dehli, where I traded in "kundan" jewellery.
I used to buy the pieces in Dehli and sell them in Bombay. There was not much profit in it. I used to earn barely Rs. 3000 per trip. Finally, I came to Bombay where I started teaching martial arts to children at schools.
You wont believe the kind of odd jobs I have done to survive.
I used to go door-to-door selling UNICEF cards, which my father used to get for me, and earn fifty paise per card At one point.
I was even a dancer for the Toko Fogo Nights which were held at Shanmukhananda Hall.
At that time, I didnt have any clear picture of my future. I expected I would continue in the same way alltrough my life. I believed that some new oppotunitiy would keep comimg up. And I knew I was capable of doing any kind of work.
I followed a simple principle: whichever offer promised a little more money than my current job, I jumped at it. Then one day I was offered a modelling assignment.
I was made to in an airconditioned room and pose and make few faces. It was so easy! Within two hours I had earned Rs. 4000, which was earning for a whole month of hard work at that time.
I realized that the world of glamour was amazing!
When I got into modeling, I changed my name from Rajiv Bhatia to Akshay Kumar.
It was my own decision. No pundit or astrologer or godfather was involved in it. I had seen an old film, I dont remember the name now, but I liked the heros character in it. Since the characters name was Akshay I chose the name.
I used to have a full grown moustache at that time, just a little les bushy than the one I have in my upcoming film "Janwaar". Then one day I went to Vaishnodevi and surrendered my moustache there. And from beneath the moustache someone else emerged! When I came back home, everyone was shocked.
Suddenly I looked very young. Because I am very hairy, even at 16 I used to look 25 years old.
I remember I used to be allowed into adult films even in my early teens. I used to love Ramsays horro films. But I never dreamed even then that I would join films someday.
After modeling, a friend suggested I should join films.
Since my family was not connected with films and I did not know anyone from the industry, I became an assistant to Jayesh Sheth in order to meet people from the profession.
After working with him for eight months, instead of remuneration I ask him to shoot my portfolio.
I began dropping my photos in producers offices. At first I could not really afford it so I used to ask for my photos to be returned.
But whenever I went back, I would be told that the photos had been misplaced.So I made giant sized prints. At least no one could say they had been displaced!
The large prints worked in my favour and I immediately got my first film. Although I had to struggle for survival before I entered films, I fortunately didnt have to struggle much for film role. I landed my first film after I had struggled for barely one month.
I was the original choice for "Phool Aur Kaante", but I couldnt do the film because the dates they asked for belonged to Pramod Chakravortys film "Deedar". But I dont regret it. Ajay got "Phool Aur Kaante", I got "Khiladi".
I remember, Ajay and I used to both learn film stunts together under his father. We used to practice every morning at Juhu beach. And Ajay used to tellme: "kya re tu subeh jaldi-jaldi aa jaa hai" (comment of the writer: what is this, why youre coming so early). Because of you my father tells me "Look at him! Why cant you wake up on time like him."
I will never forget "Khiladi" because it was my first hit. Like everything else in my life, "Khiladi" own his own. I remember one incident that took place after the film was released.
A beggar came up to my car at the traffic signal, tapped on the window and ask for ten rupees. "Why ten rupees?" I ask him. He said: Sir, aapki picture dekhni hai" ( comment of the writer: Sir, I want to watch your movie). I liked his style of begging! So I gave him fifteen rupees and told him to eat "samosas" in the interval too.
Members Lounge
17