When Akshay Kumar said he doesn't ‘believe in any religion, only in being Indian’

Akshay Kumar said during the promotions of his 2021 film Sooryavanshi that he believes in being Indian, instead of following any particular religion.

Akshay Kumar celebrates his 56th birthday on Saturday. Over the years, he's given several memorable statements to the press. One of them in recent memory was during the promotions of his 2021 film Sooryavanshi, when he said he doesn't believe in any religion, but only believes in being Indian. (Also Read: Mission Raniganj teaser: Akshay Kumar is on a rescue operation again, this time in a coal mine. Watch)

When Akshay said ‘I only believe in being Indian’

Akshay Kumar turns 56 today on September 9, 2023 (AFP)

Akshay was asked in an interview with PTI whether he feels Sooryavanshi is skewed towards any particular religion. He said, “I don’t believe in any religion. I only believe in being Indian and that is what the film also shows. The idea of being an Indian and not about being a Parsi or a Hindu or a Muslim, we haven’t looked at it on the basis of the religion.”

He added that it wasn't a conscious choice to paint any particular religion in villainious colours in the film. “We make films which have negative and positive roles, I am just playing a character. In every film there will be both good and bad characters, the audience is smart enough to understand what to take back from the film - the good or the bad," he added.

Akshay Kumar got his Indian citizenship as recently as this year's Independence Day. The actor posted a picture of the documents on his social media. Previously, Akshay held only the Canadian citizenship.

“Yes, I had said it in 2019, I applied for it (Indian citizenship). Then uske baad pandemic aagaya. Uske 2-2.5 saal sab kuch band hogaya. Renounce ka abhi mera letter aagaya hai (Then the pandemic happened and everything shut down for 2-2.5 years. My renounce letter is here) and very soon my whole passport will be coming," Akshay said at the 2019 Hindustan Times Leadership Summit.

Akshay Kumar was last seen in the courtroom drama OMG 2, which turned out to be a box office hit. He will next be seen in Mission Raniganj, slated to release in cinemas on October 6.