- published: 10 Apr 2012
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Marathi (English pronunciation: i/məˈrɑːti/; मराठी Marāṭhī [məˈɾaʈʰi]) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken predominantly by Marathi people of Maharashtra. It is the official language and co-official language in Maharashtra and Goa states of Western India respectively, and is one of the 23 official languages of India. There were 73 million speakers in 2001; Marathi ranks 19th in the list of most spoken languages in the world. Marathi has the fourth largest number of native speakers in India. Marathi has some of the oldest literature of all modern Indo-Aryan languages, dating from about 900 AD. The major dialects of Marathi are Standard Marathi and the Varhadi dialect. There are other related languages such as Khandeshi, Dangi, Vadvali and Samavedi. Malvani Konkani has been heavily influenced by Marathi varieties.
Marathi is strongly influenced by Sanskrit & is the Indo-Aryan language with 50% of vocabulary identical to the Sanskrit language . Additionally, it has some special grammatical features derived from Sanskrit that are not retained in other major Indian languages. For example, Marathi has inclusive as well as exclusive forms of 'we' and also a neuter gender which is rarely present in languages like Hindi and Punjabi and absent in Bengali. Also, it is one of the three Indo-Aryan languages retaining Sanskrit letter ळ (the others are Gujarati and Punjabi).
Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (born 9 September 1967), better known by his stage name Akshay Kumar, is an Indian actor, producer and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. He has been nominated for Filmfare Awards several times, winning it two times. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was known for his appearances in films of the "Khiladi series" as well as other action films such as Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Mohra (1994), Elaan (1994), Suhaag (1994), Sapoot (1996), Jaanwar (1999).
Later, Kumar also gained fame for his drama, romance, action and comic roles. His performances in romance films like Yeh Dillagi (1994), Dhadkan (2000), Andaaz (2003) and Namastey London (2007), as well as drama films such as Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005). His comic performances in comedy films such as Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Garam Masala (2005), Bhagam Bhag (2006), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007), and Singh Is Kinng (2008) met with acclaim. In 2007, he starred in four consecutive commercially successful films. Kumar hit a rough patch since 2009 to 2011 but came back with two successes, Housefull 2 (2012) and Rowdy Rathore (2012) with both of them grossing over ₹1 billion (US$15 million). His other films like OMG (2012), Special 26 (2013), Holiday (2014), Gabbar is Back (2015) and Airlift (2016) were highly successful critically and commercially. In February 2013, many media outlets reported that the net box-office collection of Kumar's films had crossed ₹20 billion (US$290 million) and he was the first and the only Bollywood actor to do so.Box Office India listed Kumar as one of the most successful actors in the history of Indian Cinema. Having done so, he has established himself as a leading contemporary actor of Hindi cinema.