Who is Pakshi Rajan in 2.0? Akshay Kumar's character inspired from this real-life 'birdman of India'

Akshay Kumar's character of Pakshi Rajan in 2.0 received a lot of attention. Although the overall character is a fictional one, it has apparently been inspired from real life "birdman of India" Salim Ali.

Akshay plays a negative role in the movie 2.0, but before turning evil, his character of Pakshi Rajan has been shown having a very pure heart that has immense love for birds. As a matter of fact, Pakshi Rajan turns villain in the movie because of people being insensitive towards bird deaths due to human-created radiation towers.

While Akshay's character is overall shown as an evil one, one part of the movie 2.0 shows a humanitarian side of Pakshi Rajan that matches very well with that of a renowned ornithologist, late Salim Ali.

Salim Ali, who died at the age of 90 in 1987, was known for his love and care for birds. Referred to as "birdman of India", Ali was one of the first Indians to conduct systematic surveys on birds across the country.

Having a number of books to his credit, Ali was honoured with Padma Bhushan in 1958 and Padma Vibhishan in 1976. Many bird species and bird sanctuaries have also been named after him.

Not just Pakshi Rajan's love and concern for the welfare of birds matches with that of Ali, the former's look in the movie also resembles the late ornithologist's appearance. The white hair and beard to black-framed specs that Akshay's character sports in 2.0, almost matches with that of Ali's real-life appearance.

Although there has not been any official announcement that the character has been inspired by Ali, many do believe the real-life ornithologist is the man behind the idea of Pakshi Rajan.