Sweethearts Candy Blog's

Akshay Kumar, who turned 42 today (Sept 9), completed his shooting in Italy before schedule to be with his family here on his birthday.

"Akshay wanted to ring in his birthday with his family. He doesn't want to miss this at any cost," said a source close to the actor who was shooting in Italy for Sajid Khan's "House Full".

"Akshay was missing them very much while shooting in Italy. Sajid understood Akshay's feelings and saw to it that the shooting gets wrapped up in advance so that Akshay can fly down to Mumbai and celebrate his birthday with his family," the source added.

Meanwhile, his wife Twinkle has planned a quiet party for family and close friends.

Akshay is very excited about this birthday as it is on 09.09.09. The actor considers 9 to be his lucky number.

“Today's date comes once in a lifetime and fortunately for me, my birthday is also today. I couldn't wish for a better birthday,” he has said.

While the past two years have been extremely lucky for Akshay, in 2009 he had to face setbacks in "Chandni Chowk To China" and "8X10 Tasveer" - both the films were rejected by audiences. But he managed to strike back with "Kambakkht Ishq".

His forthcoming films include Anthony D'Souza's "Blue", Priyadarshan's "De Dana Dan" and Vipul Shah's "Action Replay".