Pawan Kalyan compares his political victory to the success of Tholi Prema: ‘I haven't known victory for years’

In his first speech after the Janasena Party won all 21 seats it contested, actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan spoke about his victory.

Actor-politician Pawan Kalyan’s Janasena Party (JSP) won all 21 seats it contested in the Andhra Pradesh elections. Delivering a speech in Pithapuram, where he won the Assembly seat, Pawan compared his first political victory to his first success as an actor. (Also Read: After historic win in Andhra Pradesh polls, Pawan Kalyan gets a warm welcome from wife Anna: Watch)

Pawan Kalyan first tasted success as an actor with the 1998 film Tholi Prema.

‘No one ever told me I was victorious’

For the unversed, Pawan debuted as an actor in Tollywood with the 1996 film Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi. But it wasn’t till the 1998 film Tholi Prema that he was met with resounding success.

Talking in Pithapuram after the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), JSP, and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance won the AP elections, Pawan said, “I haven’t known victory for years now. I lost the elections in 2019, and despite making so many films, no one ever told me I was victorious. I’ve been called names and faced many issues. Even today, I didn’t even realise how victorious I was till my party won all the seats it contested. Only once, many years ago, I saw a victory called Tholi Prema when I was acting.”

‘Pawan entered politics out of free will’

Ahead of the AP elections in May, Chiranjeevi released a video about how his brother didn’t choose to become an actor, but he ventured into politics wholeheartedly.

Chiranjeevi said, “He (Pawan) was forced to come to films years ago, but he entered politics out of free will. It hurts us as a family when he’s targeted, but I told our mother this is a sacrifice she has to make for other mothers. He has never been one to stay calm in the face of injustice, so he deserves to have his voice heard. He is the last-born member of our family, but he has always been first in serving others.”

The fate of his upcoming films

Pawan has three films in his filmography that are yet to be completed and released. He has Sujeeth’s They Call Him OG, Krish and Jyothi Krishna’s Hari Hara Veera Mallu and Harish Shankar’s Ustaad Bhagat Singh. OG is slated for release on September 27. Pawan’s focus has solely been on politics for a few months now, and now that he’s an MLA, it remains to be seen if he will wrap up shooting for his films before delving into politics.