Pawan Kalyan, popularly known as Power Star in Telugu cinema, has finally achieved his longstanding dream of entering the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly. The actor-turned-politician has seen two failed attempts at winning elections earlier but the 2024 elections finally proved fruitful for both Kalyan and his Jana Sena Party. Now, as he prepared for a large role in the new government, focus is also on his wife, former Russian model Anna Lezhneva, who has been seen by his side after the win. Lezhneva is Kalyan’s third wife; his previous two marriages both ended in divorce, and the first of those rather bitterly.
Pawan Kalyan’s first wife Nandini
Before he entered films in 1996, Pawan Kalyan spent a year at the Satyanand Acting Institute in Vishakhapatnam. This is where he met Nandini. A year after his debut, the two got married in a traditional ceremony in Hyderabad. Nandini and Pawan Kalyan did not, however, have a happy marriage. The actor accused her of abandoning him and their home immediately after marriage, a charge she denied. But by 2001, they did not live together and Kalyan actually moved in with his co-star Renu Desai.
Pawan Kalyan and Nandini's wedding in 1997
Pawan Kalyan and Nandini’s ugly legal battle
In 2007, Nandini filed a case against Pawan Kalyan accusing him of bigamy, claiming he had married Renu Desai without granting her a divorce. Kalyan’s team argued that he and Renu were not married and instead were in a live-in relationship. The court cleared the actor due to lack of evidence. Weeks later, Kalyan filed for divorce. In August 2008, the divorce was settled and the actor paid Nandini an alimony of Rs 5 crore as a one-time settlement.
Where is Nandini now?
Little is known about Nandini and her background. It is said that after the divorce, she moved to the US, leaving India forever. As per reports, it is unclear if she remarried or not. Pawan Kalyan, on the other hand, married Renu Desai in 2012 but that marriage also ended in divorce in 2012. The couple has a daughter – Aadya – born in 2010. The actor married Anna Lezhneva the following year. They have two children together.
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