Mumbai/IBNS: Bollywood star Akshay Kumar, who often faces criticism for holding Canadian citizenship, has said that he has applied for a change of passport claiming that Indian is everything to him.

In an interview during the first episode of the new season of Seedhi Baat on Aajtak, Akshay said he feels bad when people say things without knowing the reason for his taking up Canadian citizenship.

"India is everything to me... Whatever I have earned, whatever I have gained is from here. And I'm fortunate that I get a chance to give back. You feel bad when people say things without knowing anything...," the actor told the channel.

Revealing the reason for his Canadian citizenship, Akshay said there was a period in his career during the 1990s when he saw a series of flip films.

It was his poor box office performance that forced him to apply for Canadian citizenship, said he.

"I thought that 'bhai, my films are not working and one has to work'. I went there for work. My friend was in Canada and he said, 'come here'. I applied and I got in," he said.

"I had just two films left for release and it is just luck that they both became super hit. My friend said, 'go back, start working again'. I got some more films and I kept getting more work. I forgot that I had the passport. I never thought that I should get this passport changed but now yes, I have applied to get my passport changed and once I get the renounced status from Canada..." he said.

Akshay's citizenship became a topic of debate after an interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi in April 2019 ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.