Indian cinema has already etched a special place in millions of hearts worldwide. Over the years, with the advent of social media, fans from different corners of the Earth have come much closer to their favourite celebs. Undoubtedly, the favourite Indian stars' luxurious lifestyles, stunning fashion choices, life decisions and everything have been the main reasons for following them massively. However, many of these Indian celebrities, who time and again, became our heartthrobs with their enigmatic performances on-screen, hold citizenship and passports from other countries.
And on January 12, 2022, India ranked 85th according to the Henley Passport Index, along with Mauritania and Uzbekistan, among 199 countries in a list of the world's most powerful passports. For the unversed, the index is made based on the most accurate travel information database, which is exclusive data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA). The Henley Passport Index is calculated based on the Mobility score, i.e., freedom of movement and visa-free travel open to holders of particular passports. And the rankings yield how much strength measures the strength of all the passports around the world. Thus, even after having such a strong passport, here is a curated list of a few celebs who renounced their Indian citizenship or held passports from other countries right from birth.
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Before going into the list of Indian celebrities who hold citizenship or passports from other countries, let's get a little deeper into what the Constitution of India says in this matter. According to the Indian Citizenship Act, 1955, an Indian citizen is not allowed by the Constitution of India to hold citizenship of any other country simultaneously. They would either have the citizenship of the foreign country by birth or will have to either renounce their Indian citizenship to acquire citizenship from another country. However, with an amendment to the act in 2005, the Overseas Citizenship of India (OCI) scheme has been introduced which commonly known as "dual citizenship" which is allowed to some citizens not belonging to Bangladesh or Pakistan.
Let's now jump into the list of citizens who hold or used to hold passports from other countries.
The veteran actress, Helen Jairag Richardson originally belonged to Burma and she was born to an Anglo-Indian father, Jairag and a Burmese mother, Marlene Richardson. Thus, she was brought up in Burma, which made her a default citizen of that country. However, after working for a long period of time in Bollywood and marrying the love of her life, Salim Khan, she acquired Indian citizenship.
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Alia Bhatt is the daughter of ace filmmaker, Mahesh Bhatt and his wife, Soni Razdan. However, even though Mahesh is an Indian citizen, Alia holds a British passport and citizenship. It is because Alia's mommy, Soni is of British origin.
Amy Jackson is an Indian model who has long predominantly worked in Tamil, Telegu and Hindi films. However, the actress was born in Liverpool, the UK. Thus, by default, she is a British citizen and holds a UK passport.
The Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani actress, Evelyn Sharma has wooed many hearts with her naughty acting on-screen. However, she holds German citizenship as she was born to a German mother and an Indian father.
Bollywood superstar, Aamir Khan’s nephew, Imran Khan has been maintaining a distance from the film industry. In his personal life, he was born in Madison, Wisconsin, in the United States and holds a US citizenship. But later, he moved to India with his mother, Nuzhat Khan after she got divorced from Imran's father, Anil Pal.
Bollywood actress, Deepika Padukone, who is reaching to greater heights every moment in her professional life, was born to former badminton player, Prakash Padukone and his wife, Ujjala Padukone in Denmark and was raised in Bangalore. Thus, Deepika holds Danish citizenship.
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The Khamoshiyan actress, Sapna Pabbi is a British citizen. She was born and brought up in London. Later, she joined Bollywood and works mainly in Indian films and web series.
Kalki Koechlin was born in Puducherry, India. However, she hails from a French family and thus holds French citizenship. Moreover, later, she has also acquired an Indian citizenship.
Katrina Kaif was born to a British father whose origin was of Kashmiri and an English mother. Her father was a businessman and her mother was a lawyer in a British court. Thus, she holds citizenship from Britain.
Nora Fatehi was born and brought up in Canada. Thus, she holds a Canadian passport. Additionally, she also has some of her ancestors from Morocco.
Jacqueline Fernandez was born to a Sri Lankan father and mother of Malaysian descent. Thus, she holds a Sri Lankan citizenship and even represented her country on various global platforms.
Nargis Fakhri was born to a Pakistani father, Mohammed A. Fakhri and Czech mother, Marie A. Fakhri. However, she was born in the USA and thus, she holds a citizenship of United States.
Sunny Leone aka Karenjit Kaur is the daughter of Jaspal Singh Vohra and Balwant Kaur Vohra. While her father was born in Tibet and raised in Delhi, her mother was brought up in Himachal Pradesh. However, Sunny's parents were of both Canadian as well as American nationality. Thus, Sunny holds Canadian citizenship and a passport.
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South Indian actor, Akhil Akkineni was born in San Jose, California, United States to popular celeb couple, Nagarjuna and Amala Akkineni. Thus, Akhil holds a US citizenship.
The veteran actress, Manisha Koirala was born in Nepal to Prakash Koirala. Moreover, Manisha's grandfather, Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala was the former Prime Minister of Nepal. Thus, she holds Nepali citizenship and passport.
The Khoobsurat actor, Fawad Khan is the heartthrob of many. However, he was born to Afzal Khan and his wife, in Karachi, Pakistan. Thus, Fawad holds a Pakistani citizenship.
Ali Zafar was born to professors of the Punjab University, Mohammad Zafarullah and Kanwal Ameen in Pakistan. Thus, Ali holds a Pakistani citizenship.
The Dhobi Ghaat actress, Monica Dogra belonged to Dogra immigrants of Jammu Kashmir. However, she was born in America, and thus holds US citizenship.
The stunning actress, Barbara Mori was seen along with Hrithik Roshan in the film, Kites. In her personal life, she carries a Mexican and Uruguayan dual nationality.
The super-energetic actor in Bollywood, Akshay Kumar was born in Amritsar, Punjab to Aruna Bhatia and Hari Om Bhatia and was brought up in Delhi. However, in 2011 he had renounced his Indian citizenship and accepted his ‘honorary Canadian citizenship’. Thus, he holds a Canadian passport. But in 2022, he was awarded by the income tax department, as he became one of the highest taxpayers in the country. And as per reports, he has re-applied to acquire Indian citizenship.
So which one from the list of favourite Indian actors or actresses' citizenship wasn't known to you? Let us know!
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