Akshay Kumar : National Patriotic Hero:

For an actor who has claimed repeatedly that he hates being stereotyped and that tags “suffocate him”, Bollywood star Akshay Kumar’s 30-year career can be split into various phases. Where in the early years he was more into action packed movies , then shifted to comedy storylines and in the last one decade he has become more of a NATIONAL PATRIOTIC HERO.

Since 2014, the 51-year-old actor has starred in 11 films with nationalistic flavour. Fierce national pride has also been central to the plot of eight out of his past 10 films, so much so that it is sometimes difficult to distinguish one film from another.

His last two Bollywood releases, Kesari (2019) and Gold (2018), are set in pre-independence India, with the actor playing the nationalist who brings honour to his country and people by triumphing against the odds. The settings are starkly different, Kesari is staged on the battlefield, while Gold was a historical sports drama, but his role in both films followed a similar trajectory: achieving the impossible due to the sheer force of will and asserting India’s superiority in the face of foreign invaders.

There was Naam Shabana and Jolly LLB 2 in 2017; Rustom and Airlift in 2016; Gabbar is Back and Baby in 2015; and Holiday in 2014, films in which Kumar plays some variation of the son of the soil.

Hispatriotism has a box-office appeal that spans many decades. He is following a tradition of actors who have kept India’s flag flying high.

Going the patriotic route has helped himgain more recognition.
Even though critics called Rustom one of Kumar’s worst performances in recent years, it won him his first Best Actor National Film Award. It was a move that raised many eyebrows and was debated as a sign of political interference in the jury’s decision-making.

Becoming the poster boy for nationalismhas major financial benefits in a country that sells an estimated 2.2 billion tickets and produces over a 1,000 films annually, more than double the amount that Hollywood churns out.

What he's gained from his roles:

He claims that he has no particular thing for films with a country-loving flavour, but his role as Bollywood’s resident patriot is so well-rooted in the minds of his audiences that it reflects in his brand endorsements too. Kumar’s standing as the foremost patriotic icon of today’s generation cannot be denied. And yet, his success has to be viewed with a hint of irony given that, while his public persona rests on his perception as a devoted, though he has taken citizenship of Canada.