
The following year he portrayed a negative role in Ajnabee which won him the Filmfare Best Villain Award. In 2000, he worked in the Priyadarshan directed comedy Hera Pheri and the Dharmesh Darshan directed love triangle Dhadkan. Kumar's appearance in the Suneel Darshan directed crime drama Jaanwar (1999) met with critical acclaim and marked his comeback. However, several other of his releases in the 1990s, including Lahu Ke Do Rang, Insaaf, Daava, Tarazu, Angaaray, Barood and Zulmi performed poorly at the box office leading to a setback in his film career. For playing a supporting role in the Chopra-directed romance Dil To Pagal Hai (1997), Kumar received a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award nomination. In 1994, Kumar earned his first Filmfare Best Actor Award nomination for his acting opposite Kajol in the Yash Chopra-produced romance Yeh Dillagi and also featured in the actioner Mohra, the year's second highest-grossing film. In the same year, he was cast in the Pramod Chakravorty produced film Deedar. He appeared as the lead actor in Saugandh (1991) before his breakthrough with the suspense thriller Khiladi (1992), the first film of the Khiladi series. He made his debut with a minor role in the 1987 Mahesh Bhatt-directed Indian film Aaj. Akshay Kumar is an Indian-born naturalised Canadian actor, television presenter and film producer who works in Hindi-language films.
