Main chup chaap nikal gaya: Akshay Kumar talks about giving up Canadian citizenship, says he’s Indian ‘from heart’

Akshay Kumar is Indian ‘from heart, mind and soul’ and his passport says that too now. The actor gave up his Canadian citizenship last year and got an Indian passport, about which he talked at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit 2024. (Also read: Which politician can become a good actor? Akshay Kumar’s witty reply at HTLS)

Akshay, in a session with Sonal Kalra, Chief Managing Editor, Entertainment & Lifestyle, Hindustan Times, was asked about the great timing of his decision. Sonal read out a fan’s message for him, who had written that Akshay must have a special foresight of a sage to see that India’s relationship with Canada was going to sour. Akshay laughed and said, “Not any baba, it was the blessings of my parents. Main chup chaap nikal gaya (I left without making a noise).”

“I had applied for it a long time back, during the Covid pandemic time,” Akshay said and explained why took Canadian citizenship in the first place. “My films were not working at the time. And all people should work, I was getting some work there with a friend on mine in cargo. But then two of my movies were up for release and they became hits. Then I got a bunch of more hits and forgot about it (Canadian citizenship).”

“I am an Indian from my mind, from my heart and from my soul. That will always be. So I never cared about that. But about 3-4 years back, I had said on this stage that I will give it up. It took some time and last year, exactly on 14th or 15th August, I got my passport.

Earlier, Akshay had shared a picture of his official government documents, proving that he has finally got his Indian citizenship. “Dil aur citizenship, dono Hindustani (Heart and citizenship, both Indian). Happy Independence Day! Jai Hind,” Akshay had captioned the post.

The relationship between India and Canada have been deeply strained since Canadian PM Justin Trudeau alleged the involvement of Indian government officials in the killing of Khalistani extremist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The allegations were dismissed as “absurd” by New Delhi.