MUMBAI: Actor Akshay Kumar on Tuesday announced that he has once again become an Indian citizen, a news that he shared with his fans on Independence Day.
Akshay took to X (formerly Twitter) to share a photograph of his Indian citizenship certificate and wrote, "Dil aur citizenship, dono Hindustani (Heart and citizenship, both Indian). Happy Independence Day! Jai Hind!."
In the past, the 55-year-old actor has faced constant criticism over his Canadian citizenship.
Kumar had previously said that he went through a lean phase in his career in the 1990s when he delivered over 15 consecutive flops and it pushed him to apply for Canadian citizenship.
Earlier this year, Akshay, in an interview with India Today, stated that he had applied for an Indian passport and will be renouncing his Canadian Citizenship. He had also said that India is "everything to him" and that he is pained by having to prove his nationality every time.
His citizenship status had come under intense scrutiny after he did not vote during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The matter also became a topic of debate after he conducted a "non-political" interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the elections.
During an event in 2019, the actor had revealed that he had applied for an Indian passport.
(With additional inputs from PTI)