Actor, producer, writer and director · Telugu cinema
Pawan Kalyan
Pawan Kalyan movies: 35 Telugu films on file (34 as actor, 2 as producer, 2 as writer, 1 as director), 1996–2026. Earliest on file: Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi (1996). Latest release: Ustaad Bhagat Singh (19 March 2026).
- Films on file
- 35 (34 as actor, 2 as producer, 2 as writer, 1 as director)
- Years on file
- 1996–2026
- Born
- 2 September 1971 · September birthdays (Wikidata)
- Selected films on file
- Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy, Gopala Gopala, Gabbar Singh
- Record
- Q6067643 on Wikidata
Pawan Kalyan (born Konidela Kalyan Kumar) is an Indian actor and politician. Known to fans as “Power Star”, he was one of Telugu cinema’s biggest draws from the late 1990s, and he founded the Janasena Party in 2014. Since June 2024 he has been Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. He is the younger brother of Chiranjeevi.
He was born on 2 September in Bapatla, Andhra Pradesh. The year is 1971 according to Wikipedia‘s lead and Wikidata, but the early-life section of the same Wikipedia article gives 1968, so we do not state an age. In 1997 the Isshin-ryū Karate Association gave him the title “Pawan”, and he holds a black belt in karate.
Film career
His debut, E. V. V. Satyanarayana’s Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi (1996), was a moderate success. It was followed by a run of hits, including Gokulamlo Seeta (1997), Suswagatham (1998), A. Karunakaran’s Tholi Prema (1998), which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu, Thammudu (1999) and Puri Jagannadh’s Badri (2000). S. J. Surya’s Kushi (2001) became the highest-grossing Telugu film up to that time. In 2001 he became Pepsi’s first South Indian brand ambassador.
He wrote, directed and starred in Johnny (2003), his first flop after six hits. Gudumba Shankar (2004), for which he wrote the screenplay and planned the action, was an average performer, and Balu, Bangaram and Annavaram followed. Trivikram Srinivas’s Jalsa (2008) was the year’s highest-grossing Telugu film. After Puli (2010), Teen Maar (2011) and Panjaa (2011), Harish Shankar’s Gabbar Singh (2012), a remake of Dabangg, set opening records. It won him the Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu. Trivikram’s Attarintiki Daredi (2013) became the highest-grossing Telugu film of its time.
After founding Janasena he made Gopala Gopala (2015) with Venkatesh, then Sardaar Gabbar Singh (2016) and Katamarayudu (2017). Agnyaathavaasi (2018), billed as his 25th film, was a box-office failure, and he stepped away from films for politics. He returned with Vakeel Saab (2021), a remake of Pink, and the action film Bheemla Nayak (2022) with Rana Daggubati. Later films were Bro (2023) with his nephew Sai Dharam Tej, Hari Hara Veera Mallu and Sujeeth’s gangster film They Call Him OG (both 2025). Harish Shankar’s Ustaad Bhagat Singh was released on 19 March 2026.
Politics
He led Yuvarajyam, the youth wing of Chiranjeevi’s Praja Rajyam Party, from 2008. He founded the Jana Sena Party on 14 March 2014 (The New Indian Express). In 2019 he lost both seats he contested (The Hindu). In 2024, in alliance with the TDP and BJP, Jana Sena won all 21 Assembly seats and both Lok Sabha seats it contested. He won Pithapuram by more than 70,000 votes (The New Indian Express) and became Deputy Chief Minister, with the Panchayat Raj, Rural Development, Environment, Forests and Science portfolios (The Hindu).
Awards
- Filmfare Award for Best Actor – Telugu for Gabbar Singh (Wikipedia winners list).
- SIIMA Award for Best Actor – Telugu for Gabbar Singh (list).
- Santosham Best Actor Award for Attarintiki Daredi, according to Wikipedia.
Upcoming films
No upcoming film is on our records after Ustaad Bhagat Singh. Any new film will appear on upcoming Telugu movies once it is recorded.
Where to watch his films
- Ustaad Bhagat Singh: Netflix, from 16 April 2026, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
- They Call Him OG: Netflix, from 23 October 2025, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
- Hari Hara Veera Mallu: Prime Video, from 20 August 2025, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
- Bro: Netflix, from 25 August 2023, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
- Bheemla Nayak: Disney+ Hotstar and Aha, from 24 March 2022; the Aha listing was checked by us (OTT details)
- Vakeel Saab: Prime Video, from 30 April 2021, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
- Attarintiki Daredi: Aha, from Aha’s listing (OTT details)
- Agnyaathavaasi: Sun NXT, per Wikipedia; no start date on file (OTT details)
Catalogues change; check the platform before you plan to watch.
Personal life
He married Anna Lezhneva in Hyderabad in September 2013 (Deccan Chronicle). He was earlier married to actress Renu Desai, his co-star in Badri, from 2009 to 2012 (The News Minute).
Sources: Wikipedia and the references it cites (linked above), Wikidata, and Tollywood Desk’s film, release and OTT records.
Career on file
Pawan Kalyan has 35 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 1996 to 2026: 34 films as actor, two films as producer, two films as writer and one film as director. The earliest of them is Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi (1996), and the most recent release is Ustaad Bhagat Singh (2026). The most widely covered of these, counted by Wikipedia language editions, are Sye Raa Narasimha Reddy (2019), Gopala Gopala (2015) and Gabbar Singh (2012). Other recent releases on file are They Call Him OG (2025), Hari Hara Veera Mallu (2025) and Bro (2023).
Brahmanandam is the most frequent co-star, sharing 14 films with Pawan Kalyan, followed by Prakash Raj (5) and Nassar (5). Among directors, Trivikram Srinivas and A. Karunakaran each cast Pawan Kalyan in three films, more than any other director; next are Jayanth C. Paranjee (2) and S. J. Surya (2). Music on six of them is by Devi Sri Prasad, with Mani Sharma (5) and Ramana Gogula (4) next. Across these films the credits on file name 25 different directors, 17 music directors and 126 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 33 of them; they average 159 minutes, and the longest is Johnny at 178 minutes. 13 of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 1990s (5), 2000s (10), 2010s (14) and 2020s (6). 2012 is the busiest single year, with three films.
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.