Akshay Kumar has become one of India’s most socially conscious actors and works to bring notice to relevant issues in several ways both reel and real.
First, the actor chooses films with important social issues at their core. His most recent release, Pad Man, has been one of the driving forces for challenging the stigma around menstruation in India. In a similar vein, his 2017 feature film ‘Toilet: Ek Prem Katha’ emphasised the importance of improving sanitation conditions in India, and the important need to address the open defecation crisis.
He earlier explained that was a conscious decision to do more and to make an impact, “I’ve made so many films that I felt it was time to reinvent myself, to really make a difference in my country, even if it’s teaching them a bit of history that didn’t sink in at school, or a reminder that we can change our society, our beliefs, our hygiene, all we have to do is want to. I don’t mind even if I have the smallest of impact in this world, I just want to be able to say ‘I tried…’”
Away from the silver screen, Kumar works to highlight issuses and uses his voice to causes such as Bharat Ke Veer. This initiative launched by Akshay Kumar a year ago provides a platform to help the families of fallen soldiers. On April 9th, Akshay Kumar took to Twitter and announced that it has since raised Rs. 29 crores
Today @BharatKeVeer completes a year…a dream which is now a growing reality and it gives me immense happiness to share Rs. 29 crores has been raised till now which has supported 159 families of our bravehearts. Keep showing your gratitude https://t.co/5j0vxsSt7f ?? pic.twitter.com/GgaLUjeBIc
— Akshay Kumar (@akshaykumar) April 9, 2018
As well as this, Akshay Kumar is a brand ambassador for the Swachh Bharat Mission, a campaign in India aiming to clean up the infrastructure and streets of cities, towns and rural areas. As brand ambassador, Akshay Kumar has been seen promoting the cause on social media, amongst other actors such as Amitabh Bachchan and Anushka Sharma. That being said, he does not shy away from getting his hands dirty from time to time too!
Plus his work for Happy Heart India
Up next for Akshay is his upcoming release ‘Gold’, which was inspired by the true events of India’s first gold medal in Hockey following their independence.
