Akshay Kumar birthday special: Qualities that make the actor a superstar

Akshay Kumar turns 56 today and the way he looks completely defies that. The actor has continued be his fittest through this years and his stardom has only been on the rise. The actor has completed three decades in the industry and yet there's no trace of being complacent as he's the only actor who does three-four films in a year. But what is it that makes him so popular? Is it his choice of movies? Or on-screen presence? Or just his off-screen persona which reflects on-screen? There's quite a bit! Let's look upon the qualities of Akshay that seem to do complete justice to the success he's attained in the past 30 years of his career.

Recently, Akshay was on 'Koffee With Karan 7' with Samantha Prabhu, where he got nostalgic and spoke about his early days in the industry. He confessed that he just took up whatever work came his way and kept working hard irrespective of the kind of role or length of the role. He was practical enough to admit the fact that he ventured into the profession initially because of the money he got so he took whatever came his way. He's always been quite hardworking ever since his debut and several of his co-stars from the 90s, like Ayesha Julka say that about him even today. Over the years, he doesn't seem to have gotten complacent. But Akshay also confessed on the show that a lot of credit for his success goes to luck being by his side.

Akshay Kumar became the action star when action was new to Hindi cinema. Roles he did in the 90s in films like 'Mohra' and 'Main Khiladi Tu Anari', gained so much popularity and many more action movies followed. No actor had brought this kind of action to screen before that. But just when you thought he could only do action, he broke that stereotype and went on to do other genres.

His career gained further momentum after he started doing comedies like 'Hera Pheri' and those big entertainers like 'Welcome' and 'Houseful'. There was also a time when he had 16 flops in a row, but these big blockbusters brought him back with a bang. With these ensemble comedies and family entertainers, he reached the hearts of people further because these films targeted the audience from every age group.

After doing many comedies, when he got typecast into that genre, the actor broke the mould yet again and chose many socially relevant subjects in the form of 'Toilet Ek Prem Katha' and 'Padman' amidst films based on true incidents like 'Airlift'. Doing meaningful cinema also helped him have a hold on the audiences through deep emotional connect and a sense of empathy.

In another earlier episode of 'Koffee With Karan', when Akshay was asked by Karan Johar, how he manages to look fitter than many other actors? Akshay responded that he doesn't do the kind of things which other actors do - like partying. The actor continues to dish out major fitness goals, thus setting an example. He doesn't believe in taking artificial steroids and promotes natural ways to stay fit among his audience. His punctuality is not something we should even mention, since there's already quite a lot that's been said about that.