Akshay Kumar receives ‘samman patra’ from the Income Tax department

The Income Tax department has honored Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar with a ‘samman patra’, which translates into certificate of honor. This was because he had dutifully paid his income tax and became the highest taxpayer from the entertainment industry. Normally, many persons from this industry try to avoid paying taxes and Akshay Kumar was an exception. This is reported in the media. Akshay Kumar named as the highest taxpayer once again; receives a honour certificate from Income Tax department. He is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian actor and film producer. He has been working in the Hindi cinema for over three decades. With more than 100 films to his credit, he has won a number of awards. These include a National Film Award for Best Actor in 2016 for his performances in Rustom. He also won two Filmfare Awards.

He is known as the Khiladi star and is a busy actor. Right now, he is shooting in the UK and the honour certificate of the Income Tax department was received by his team on his behalf. Incidentally, he has been one of the highest taxpayers of India over the last five years. That reveals volumes for an actor many of whom try to suppress information in relation to taxable earnings. There are many of his films in the pipeline. He is a fitness freak, works out in the gym regularly and is proud of his body. The result is an able dancer and an actor who can portray strong persons. Apart from movies, he loves to work in ads and has featured in innumerable products. He is a brand ambassador for many products and has also worked in ads to promote policies of the government.

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Bollywood movie 'Airlift' is about evacuation of 170,000 people from Iraq in 1990

Bollywood star Akshay Kumar's latest offering is 'Airlift' - it is undoubtedly a different type of movie and not the run-of-the-mill affair that Bollywood dishes out. "airlift' is the story of evacuation of 170,00 Indians who were trapped in Iraq in 1990 when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 25 January 2016.

The release of the film 'Airlift' just before India celebrates its 67th Republic day augers well for the film and it is sure to do good business as patriotic fervor grips the country.
Airlift is a story of one of the largest air evacuations of people in the world when Iraqi president Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait on 2 August 1990 and as many as 170,000 Indians were trapped there. All of them wanted to leave and it caught the government of India unawares. The Indian mission in Kuwait was shifted to Basra in Iraq due to security reasons and the Indians were left stranded.
That is when Akshay Kumar steps in. He plays the role of Ranjit Katiyal, a wealthy businessman with good connections in Kuwait. He finds himself homeless and sets out to organize and facilitate the evacuation.
The Indian government did not want to invite the wrath of the international community by making deals with Hussein but the Indian foreign minister did get an assurance of safe passage for the Indians from the Iraqi president. However, there was no mechanism on ground to evacuate such a huge number.
It was the wealthy businessman who arranged it all. Every day thousands of stranded Indians were taken into Jordan, from where they were repatriated. However, there is no mention of the contribution of this businessman in any official records.
Except for a few thousand, who decided to stay back in Kuwait, all the remaining were taken out before the start of Operation Desert Shield. It involved a total of 488 Air India flights and a few military aircraft and the evacuation of all Indians was done in 59 days.
In contrast, the "Berlin Airlift" at the end of the Second World War was the evacuation of 48,000 people over a period of two years.


Image courtesy wikimediacommons.org

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25 Bollywood celebs lose police cover - including Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan

The Mumbai Police have trimmed the security cover of 25 Bollywood celebrities - among them are two of the Khans Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan. In a major overhaul, the Mumbai Police have either downgraded or nixed the security cover for the celebrities. The reason cited by the authorities is that the move was because of the need to nix ‘unwanted’ security cover.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 8 January 2016.

The police have clarified that round-the-clock security to Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan had been provided - this cover included two armed constables and an armed guard on two shifts and an armed escort vehicle. However, following a re-assessment, the escorts and the armed in-charge have been withdrawn. Henceforth, only two armed constables will cover them in two shifts.
It seems security cover was being provided to around 40 Bollywood celebrities and, the list has now been trimmed and reduced to around 15 personalities against whom there are genuine threat perception.
Of the 25 personalities whose security has now been fully withdrawn are Bollywood director and producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra, director Rajkumar Hirani, director Farah Khan and producer siblings Ali and Karim Morani.
The security cover will continue to remain for Akshay Kumar and producers Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt.
However, for Lata Mangeshkar, Dilip Kumar and Amitabh Bachchan, viewed as iconic figures, they will continue to enjoy round-the-clock security cover, apart from a police escort.

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Kangana Ranaut learns horse riding for her role in ‘Rangoon’

Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut always to get into the skin of the role in her movies and, since she will soon be appearing in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Rangoon, she has begun her preparations for her role in the movie. She is learning horse riding for her role in the film under the training of actor Jeetu Verma aka Jojo. He is usually seen in villainous roles in Bollywood movies.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 3 October 2015.

Jeetu was last seen in Kapil Sharma’s Kis Kise Pyaar Karu and, as he has explained, Kangana must master horse riding for her role in Rangoon and Jeetu has been teaching her for the past two months to acquire the necessary skill.
Incidentally, Jeetu has also trained Shahid Kapoor and Alia Bhatt in horse training for ‘Shaandaar’ and had picked up his love for horses and riding from his father who used to supply horses to all major Bollywood movies.
Some of Jeetu’s other students were Salman Khan for Auzaar. Then there were Akshay Kumar, Arjun Rampal, Hrithik Roshan and many other. In Jeetu’s opinion, celebrities find horse riding a good form of exercise since the entire body is in motion while riding.
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Akshay Kumar on action - Bollywood versus Hollywood

Action packed movies are the trend of the day whether it is from Bollywood or from Hollywood – but, one finds that the movies from Hollywood are more slick as compared to that of Bollywood. Both sides spend millions but, the fact remains that Bollywood is no match for Hollywood where the action moves in a well-oiled manner to keep the audience on the edge of their seats.
While speaking on his movie ‘Brothers’, Akshay Kumar, an action hero of Bollywood and a trained martial arts expert, the actor has revealed that budget constraints are the differentiating factor between Bollywood and Hollywood.
This has been reported in indianexpress.com dated 12 August 2015.

In his movie “Brothers”, Akshay promises to show off some novelty in action — he and actor Sidharth Malhotra had dedicated a whopping 52 days to shoot the climax alone. The movie is an action-drama film, based on mixed martial arts and directed by Karan Malhotra. It is produced by Dharma Productions, Lionsgate films and Endemol India.
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Bollywood actors love sports – Akshay Kumar turns boxer in ‘Brothers’

Bollywood movie makers have realized the potentials of having new genre of movies were sports is the main theme. Therefore, while movies on hockey (Chak de India –Shah Rukh Khan) and boxing (Mary Kom – Priyanka Chopra) have left a mark on the Indian audience, new movies are on the horizon where sports is the theme.
Upcoming movies in this genre are - Salman Khan’s "Sultan" where he plays the role of a wrestler. Aamir Khan also will be seen as a wrestler in "Dangal". Side by side, Akshay Kumar will be seen as a boxer in his upcoming film "Brothers".
This has been reported in timesofindia.indiatimes.com dated 11 August 2015.

Till now, cricket held center stage in entertainment and gradually, movies on sports as theme is trying to horn in on the lucrative options.
Incidentally, ‘Brothers’ stars Akshay Kumar and Siddharth Malhotra. It is an action-drama, based on mixed martial arts and is an official remake of the 2011 Hollywood film "Warrior". It is directed by Karan Malhotra and set to release on August 14.
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Amitabh Bachchan. Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar in Vogue’s list of top 10 high earning actors but not SRK

Vogue has, for the first time, made public a list of highest paid actors and, as far as Bollywood goes, the list has Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar among the world's top ten highest-paid actors but Shah Rukh Khan does not find a place in the list.
The list has actors right from Hollywood to Hong Kong and Bollywood.
This has been reported in zeenews.india.com dated 5 August 2015.

Amitabh Bachchan and Salman Khan are placed at joint seventh place, with estimated earnings of $33.5 million in the past year while Akshay Kumar is placed at ninth place with $32.5 million.
As far as Shah Rukh Khan’s rankings goes, he is at 18th and Ranbir Kapoor at 30th position – their estimated earnings are believed to be $26 million and $15 million respectively.
Bollywood stalwart and superstar Amitabh Bachchan has starred in more than 150 movies in his 50 year career and he continues to earn good money for his roles in movies like the 2014 movie "Bhoothnath Returns."
In contrast, Salman Khan has appeared in some 80 movies since his 1989 breakout role "Maine Pyar Kiya" while Akshay Kumar has appeared in some 150 movies since his 1992 breakthrough movie "Khiladi."
The others in the top 10 are Robert Downey Jr (1) with earnings of $80 million, Jackie Chan (2) with $50 million. Then comes Vin Diesel (3), Bradley Cooper (4), Adam Sandler (5), Tom Cruise (6), and Mark Wahlberg (10).
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