Andhra Pradesh deputy chief minister and actor Pawan Kalyan almost chose a different career path before his brother veered him away from it. On the ANI podcast with Smita Prakash, the actor-politician admitted that he had almost joined Naxalism and had even attended a few jana sabhas (public meetings) before deciding not to venture into it.
17-year-old Pawan Kalyan wanted to become a naxal
Pawan spoke on the podcast about how enraged he was by the state of affairs in the world. Stating that he was an 80s teenager, he stated that the South African apartheid, the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) movement in Sri Lanka, which had repercussions in Chennai, Cold War reflections, unrest in a unified Germany, Khalistani militancy and more were having an effect on him.
“I even entertained getting into the Naxalites. One point in time, when I was in my late teens, yes. Yes, I wanted to pick up the gun. That’s when my brother pushed me into something more constructive. He said, where is that mad rage coming from? I said, I’m talking about injustice, we should go do this and that. He was very worried. It lasted from 17 to 21. That’s the age you can jump in,” revealed Pawan.
Pawan also said that he was ‘going crazy’ and thought this would be a solution. He would attend jana sabhas with students where no one knew him. Go to Mumbai to take part in short film festivals and make documentaries. The actor-politician admitted he was ‘experimenting’ but unhappy with all of it and feeling stuck and angry.
“That’s when my brother entered the picture. He said only one thing. If your brother is not Chiranjeevi, if you have responsibilities towards your family, if someone is dependent on you based on your salary and hard work, would you do the same thing? I could not answer. I didn’t have an answer, I kept quiet,” said Pawan. The actor-politician said he then turned to spirituality before going to acting classes.
Pawan Kalyan’s career
In 1996, Pawan debuted in films as Kalyan Babu with Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi. However, his first massive hit would be the 1998 film, Tholi Prema. He was last seen in Hari Hara Veera Mallu and They Call Him OG in 2025 and Ustaad Bhagat Singh this year. The actor-politician has given the nod to a yet-to-be-titled project by Surender Reddy now. He has yet to announce other projects.
