Do we like Akshay Kumar?
Our score: 7 out of 10. Decent record and real giving, held back by one contested ad deal that he apologised for and a thinner paper trail on LGBTQ+ issues than we'd like.
Akshay Kumar is one of Hindi cinema's biggest stars, and he has long had a knack for films with a social message wrapped in comedy or action. That has made him a lightning rod: critics say films like Toilet: Ek Prem Katha and Padman line up with government schemes. He rejects that, pointing out that Airlift and Mission Raniganj are set in the Congress era.
The Modi interview is the bit that sticks to him. Kumar did a sit-down with the Prime Minister before the 2019 election, saying he wanted the human side of him and was not going to ask him about policies. Asked about being called a Modi bhakt, he told Times Now that critics say it when it suits their narrative, and that he isn't into politics. Where you land depends on whether you read that as a mate chatting or as soft PR.
The pan masala saga is his clearest misstep. In April 2022 he fronted a Vimal Elaichi ad that critics tied to chewing tobacco, and fans dug up an old clip of him saying he would never do a gutka ad. He apologised, said he had not and would not endorse tobacco, stepped back from the brand and said he would donate the fee. Fair marks for owning it quickly, though not everyone bought the explanation.
On the harm check, we found nothing from Kumar attacking LGBTQ+ people, women or migrants. In Laxmii (2020) he played a trans character, and trans rights activist Laxmi Narayan Tripathi urged people to appreciate him for the film. Not everyone agreed, and the casting of a cisgender star drew its own critics. In December 2025 he praised the hit film Dhurandhar on X as a gripping tale. That film has drawn objections, including from the widow of the real officer it portrays, but we found only his praise, not words against any group.
He can also play hardball. In November 2020 he sent a Bihar-based YouTuber a legal notice seeking Rs 500 crore, alleging false and baseless claims in videos about the Sushant Singh Rajput case. The YouTuber denied it, called the notice vexatious and said his videos were protected speech. As of that report the dispute was unresolved, and we found no outcome.
The good stuff is real. In August 2020 he gave Rs 1 crore to the Assam Chief Minister's Relief Fund for flood victims, and Assam's chief minister publicly thanked him. Other reports we saw describe larger gifts, including pandemic relief and Punjab floods in 2025, but we couldn't open a dated page to back those up here. In October 2025 he also went to the Bombay High Court to stop AI deepfakes of himself, which is self-protection rather than charity.