If there is anything Indians worship after God and cricket, it’s Bollywood. Bollywood stars have inspired generations together into dressing like them, talking like them and sometimes even to have the kind of life they do. No Indian wedding is complete without everybody dancing to Bollywood numbers and one filmy dialogue is enough to give our mood the kick it needs. That’s how deep Bollywood has seeped into our everyday lives.
On that note and also a little off-track, ever struck you that all these stars might not actually belong to India? If you are thinking Fawad Khan or Ali Zafar, that’s not really what we mean. In case you’re wondering where this is going, without much ado we present to you a list of Bollywood actors who are not of Indian nationality. Some of them might come across as real shockers.
Akshay Kumar: His Jolly LLB 2 earned around 150 crore at the box-office, all in Indian currency. The man himself however is a Canadian. Even though he claims he has dual citizenship, India does not recognize dual citizenship. With a massive fan base in India, Akshay Kumar has been around for a very long time in the industry and was initially known for his action prowess and has now evolved into a fairly fine actor as well. His citizenship though, still remains Canadian.
Katrina Kaif: While this one is no surprise, the actor has been in news for her upcoming movie ‘Tiger Zinda Hai’ which is a sequel to ‘Ek Thha Tiger’. The actress is British by birth and has kept that no secret given her heavy British accent in which she speaks Hindi. ‘Ek Thha Tiger’ and ‘Dhoom 3’ are among her movies which hold a rank among the highest grossing Bollywood movies of all time. She’s topped several polls including Maxim’s ‘Hot 100’ and FHM’s ‘World’s Sexiest Woman’.
Sunny Leone: Born Karenjit Kaur Vohra the adult entertainer turned
Bollywood actress is of Canadian-American origin. Ram Gopal Varma drew our attention to the classy woman that she is with his creepy Women’s Day tweet. She rose to fame with ‘Baby Doll’ in Ragini MMS 3 and since then has seen nothing other than an upward curve in her career, what with emojis now dedicated to her.
Jacqueline Fernandez: In news for her upcoming movie ‘Drive’ with Sushant Singh Rajput, the actress is of Sri-Lankan origin and was born in Bahrain. In fact, she’s also won Miss Sri Lanka and represented Sri Lanka at the 2006 Miss Universe Pageant. She’s also launched her jewellery line now.
Alia Bhatt: ‘Badrinath ki Dulhania’ released today and Alia’s acting skills have received gallons of praise. The actor is of British citizenship and was in news when she was unable to vote in the Mumbai elections, thanks to her British passport. Her acting prowess has steadily improved with movies like ‘Highway’ and ‘Udta Punjab’ to her credit.
Amy Jackson: Another actress with British citizenship, she broke into Bollywood with ‘Ekk Thha Deewana’ in 2012 opposite Prateik Babbar. She is now working on Robot 2.0 with Rajinikanth and Akshay Kumar. She’s also a part of the new ‘Being Human’ campaign.
Nargis Fakhri: The Bollywood actress has American nationality and broke into the film industry with ‘Rockstar’ opposite Ranbir Kapoor. Known for her pout and speculation over whether or not she is Uday Chopra’s girlfriend, the model-actor hit controversy when she did not turn up for Housefull 3’s promotional events.
Imran Khan: The actor who appeared as a child star in ‘Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak’, and made his debut in Bollywood with ‘Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na’ is an American National. He is also Aamir Khan’s nephew and has been in news for photos with his adorable daughter.