Akshay Kumar finally opened up about the reason behind his decision to change his name at a recent event. Born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia, he changed his name after making his acting debut with the Kumar Gaurav starrer Aaj.
He said:
“My first film was Aaj (1987) which was directed by Mahesh Bhatt and starred Kumar Gaurav. The name of Gaurav’s character was Akshay. I had a 4.5 second role in it and I would only observe Gaurav and his acting. I don’t know what happened but one day I just went to the court and got my name changed.”
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He was relatively unknown back then and even printed out visiting cards bearing his new name. “I just went to the Bandra East court and got it done. Main kucch bhi nahi tha us time pe phir bhi maine visiting card banwaye. Then I went out to get work, time was in my favour, and I got films after that,” he revealed.
The actor, who rose to stardom in the early 90’s with the Khiladi series, is now recognised as one of Bollywood’s biggest stars. This year alone, Akshay has Gold, Padman, Toilet – Ek Prem Katha and 2.0 gearing up for release