Bollywood stars who could rival athletes with their love for sports

Akshay Kumar holds a 6th degree black belt in martial arts, trained in Karate and Taekwondo, and resided for five years in Bangkok, Thailand studying Muay Thai. Akshay Kumar has a long-standing interest in martial arts and fitness and almost pursued a professional career before he became a Bollywood star.

Deepika is the famous daughter of renowned badminton player Prakash Padukone. Deepika took her sport seriously, and was a professional state player. During her studies, she committed to badminton and appealed regularly. However, while she could have pursued being a professional badminton player, she decided to take the route of modeling and acting.

Prior to rising to fame as India's fitness icon called "Ironman", Milind Soman was a competitive national-level swimmer who won a silver medal representing India at the South Asian Games in 1984 and was the national senior men's champion for four consecutive years. He was positioned for a career in professional swimming but switched to modeling in 1988, leading to him becoming India's first supermodel and eventually acting and having a long career surrounding fitness.

Besides being a multifaceted actor who acts, writes and directs, the bold, elegant actor has demonstrated a tremendous passion for the sport of Rugby. He has also been one of the major influences in creating the modern sport of Rugby. He has played for the Indian national team at the Asian Rugby Football Union Championship, and is currently the President of the Indian Rugby Football Union board.

Randeep Hooda is a professional equestrian who has competed in show jumping and polo on behalf of India. He has been highly successful in equestrian sport, winning multiple national medals; however, acting has often dominated his time, and he has chosen to defer Olympic goals to focus on his acting career.