Akshay Kumar's top 6 roles as real-life heroes

Akshay Kumar is the crowned king of biopics and we have proof. The superstar, who is known to bring some inspiring stories of heroism to the big screen, will soon play mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill, in an upcoming project. As he gets set to bring this story to the big screen, take a look at his other roles as real-life heroes.

Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar on Wednesday said he is set to play mining engineer Jaswant Singh Gill, who rescued 64 miners from a flooded quarry in West Bengal in 1989. "It's an honour for me to play #SardarJaswantSinghGill in a film. It's a story like no other," Akshay wrote in a Tweet.

A resident of Amritsar, Gill had received several awards for his act of bravery.

Akshay paid an ode to the warrior king Samrat Prithviraj in his historical drama. The costume drama revolves around the last known Hindu king on the throne of Delhi, who gave it his all when he clashed with Muhammad Ghori to protect his people from foreign invasion and captivity. The film, however, failed to make a mark at the box office.

For 'Padman', Akshay Kumar stepped into the shoes of A Muruganantham, the man who made the low-cost sanitary napkin machine that helped change the lives of thousands of women in the country and the world at large. Directed by R Balki, the film which also starred Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor, was a hit at the box office.

The role of Tapan Das, played by Akshay Kumar in 'Gold', was inspired by Kishan Lal, the former captain of the Indian hockey team. The film is a fictional account, on the fiery right-winger who leads the team to its first gold medal win at the 1948 Olympics and beat the Britishers at their own game and on their own turf.

Akki donned the naval uniform to play the role of officer Rustam Pavri. The movie is largely inspired by the famous 1959 case of KM Nanavati, a Navy officer who was tried for the murder of his wife’s lover. The case between the officer and the State of Maharashtra reportedly changed the face of the Indian judicial system.

Akshay Kumar also won hearts for his performance in Airlift which was based on the true story of Mathunny Mathews Toyota, an Indian residing in Kuwait, who was one of the people credited for the safe evacuation of about 170,000 Indians during the 1990 Invasion of Kuwait. The successful mission is hailed as one of the world's largest civilian air evacuations in history.