Pawan Kalyan (born Konidela Kalyan Kumar, 2 September 1971) is an Indian politician and Telugu film actor who has served as the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh since June 2024. He represents Pithapuram in the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly and is the founder and president of the Janasena Party. He also holds the Panchayat Raj, Rural Development, Rural Water Supply, Environment, Forest, and Science and Technology portfolios.
Known to fans as "Power Star",
Pawan Kalyan
Power Star, Pspk, Senani
02 Sep
Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh, India
Politician, Actor, Filmmaker
Anna Lezhneva (m. 2013; Separation Announced Nov 2026)
Films: 1996 – present; Politics: 2008 – present
Janasena Party (founder and president)
Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh; Minister for Panchayat Raj, Rural Development, Rural Water
Pithapuram, Kakinada district, Andhra Pradesh
Janasena Party; NDA alliance in Andhra Pradesh
Separated
Virgo
Indian Rupees
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Indian
He made his debut with Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi (1996), followed by Gokulamlo Seeta (1997), the first film in which he was credited as Pawan Kalyan. A string of hits followed: Suswagatham and Tholi Prema (1998), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, Thammudu (1999), Badri (2000) and Kushi (2001), which became the highest-grossing Telugu film of its time. In 2001 he became the first South Indian brand ambassador for Pepsi. He directed Johnny (2003) and has choreographed fight sequences for several of his films.
After a few setbacks he returned to the top with Jalsa (2008), the highest-grossing Telugu film of that year. Gabbar Singh (2012) won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu, and Attarintiki Daredi (2013) became one of the biggest Telugu hits of its time. Later films include Gopala Gopala (2015), Vakeel Saab (2021), Bheemla Nayak (2022) and Bro (2023).
After entering government he completed his pending films: the period drama Hari Hara Veera Mallu (July 2025), the gangster film They Call Him OG (September 2025), which according to Pinkvilla grossed about ₹283 crore worldwide and became his highest-grossing film, and Ustaad Bhagat Singh (March 2026).
He entered politics in 2008 as president of Yuvarajyam, the youth wing of Chiranjeevi's Praja Rajyam Party, and campaigned in the 2009 elections. After the party merged with the Congress in 2011, he stepped back from politics. On 14 March 2014 he founded the Janasena Party; he did not contest that year but campaigned for the TDP–BJP alliance.
In 2017 he drew attention to the Uddanam kidney-disease crisis, and he later led protests on issues such as land pooling, sand shortages and farmer distress. In the 2019 Assembly election Janasena contested in alliance with the BSP, CPI and CPI(M); he lost in both Gajuwaka and Bhimavaram, and the party won one seat. In 2020 the party allied with the BJP, and in 2023 he toured the state on his "Varahi" yatra.
For the 2024 elections he helped form the TDP–Janasena–BJP alliance. He won Pithapuram by a margin of more than 70,000 votes, and Janasena won all 21 Assembly seats and both Lok Sabha seats it contested. On 12 June 2024 he was sworn in as Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh in the government of Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
In February 2024 a criminal defamation complaint was filed in a Guntur court over remarks he made about government volunteers during his July 2023 Varahi yatra, in which he alleged misuse of data collected by volunteers. The prosecution was withdrawn in November 2024; two volunteers challenged the withdrawal in the Andhra Pradesh High Court, which in April 2025 sought the state government's arguments. No final ruling had been reported as of November 2026.
In June 2026, on a suit filed by Pawan Kalyan, a Bengaluru civil court granted an interim injunction directing X, Google and Meta to block online content he said was defamatory to him.
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