Image source, NOAH SEELAM/AFP via Getty Images
Andhra Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister and actor Pawan Kalyan and his wife Anna Lezhneva have announced their separation with mutual consent.
Lakshmi Venugopal, associated with the media team of Pawan Kalyan's Jana Sena Party, gave this information at 10:46 pm on Monday night.
After this this news spread rapidly on social media.
Anna Lezhneva is the third wife of Pawan Kalyan, who was born in Russia, she started her career in the world of modeling and acting.
Pawan Kalyan and Anna's first meeting
Anna Lezhneva was born in 1980 in Russia.
It is said that her first meeting with Pawan Kalyan was during the shooting of the 2011 film 'Teen Maar'. This film was directed by Jayanth C. Paranji.
Anna played a small role in this film. During this time both of them met and later both started liking each other.
Two years later, on 30 September 2013, both of them got married at Erragadda Sub-Registrar Office in Hyderabad.
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Earlier, Pawan Kalyan had married Nandini from Visakhapatnam in 1997. Due to mutual differences, both of them got divorced in 2008 through the Family Court of Visakhapatnam.
After this, Pawan Kalyan lived with actress Renu Desai for some time. Renu became famous with the film 'Badri'. Both of them got married in 2009.
Pawan Kalyan divorced Renu Desai in 2012 and later married Anna Lezhneva.
Pawan Kalyan and Renu Desai have a son named Akira Nandan. He also has a daughter, whose name is Aadhya.
Pawan Kalyan and Anna Lezneva have a son, Mark Shankar Pavanovich, and a daughter, Polena Anjana Pavanova.
It is said that Anna Lezhneva is also interested in hotel business.
According to a news published in the news website 'Money Control', he owns many hotels in Singapore. Apart from this, he has assets worth about Rs 1,800 crore in Russia and Singapore.
Film journalist Suresh Kondeti had told that Pawan Kalyan's second son has been named 'Shankar'. This name is named after the real name of his elder brother and actor Chiranjeevi.
What did Pawan Kalyan say on three marriages?
In 2022, Pawan Kalyan had given a sharp reaction to the criticism regarding his three marriages.
He had said, "Yes, I have married three times and if anyone has a problem with it, he can also marry."
Referring to his first marriage, he said, "When the relationship did not work out, he took a divorce and gave Rs 5 crore. After this, he got married for the second time and gave the rest of his property to his second wife. Then he got married for the third time."
Responding to the critics, he said that he has married every time only after getting a divorce.
Pawan Kalyan had said that people have no right to question his personal life.
The news of separation was already spreading
Image Source: Pawan Kalyan/Facebook
The news of separation of Pawan Kalyan and Anna Lezhneva was already coming out.
Anna Lezhneva did not attend the engagement of Pawan Kalyan's brother Nagbabu's son Varun Tej and the 'cradle' ceremony of actor Ram Charan and Upasana's daughter.
After this, news started spreading that Pawan Kalyan and Anna are going to separate.
However, after Pawan Kalyan's victory in the 2024 elections, Anna Lezhneva appeared with him in many programs.
This put a stop to the news of their separation.
After the results of 2024 elections came, Pawan Kalyan went to his brother Chiranjeevi's house. After this Pawan Kalyan took oath as the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh.
Later Pawan Kalyan also met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during which Anna was also present.
Meanwhile, Anna Lezhneva obtained her master's degree from the National University of Singapore in July 2024.
When Anna got tonsured in Tirumala
Pawan Kalyan and Anna's son Mark Shankar had survived the fire in a school in Singapore.
After this, on 13 April 2025, Anna Lezhneva went to Tirupati and offered her hair there to fulfill her vow.
Anna, a practicing Russian Orthodox Christian, signed an affidavit as per the rules of the Tirumala temple and participated in the traditional puja.
After marriage with Pawan Kalyan, Anna was often seen in Indian traditional clothes.
'Felt lonely at times'
On June 12, after the formation of coalition government in Andhra Pradesh, Anna had written an emotional post on social media about her husband Pawan Kalyan.
In this he had said, "Pawan Kalyan is today the Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. But his journey to reach this position was not easy. He had to face many difficulties. There were many days when it seemed that the whole world was against him. Many people insulted him and made fun of him. When Pawan was fighting the political battle outside, I tried to maintain courage for the children at home."
Anna had written, "Many times I felt lonely. There were some days when I was scared. Pawan Kalyan's victory made me emotional. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also seen tears in my eyes the day Pawan took oath. These were tears of happiness."
Along with this post, Anna also shared pictures and videos of Pawan Kalyan taking oath as Deputy Chief Minister in 2024.
Ana closed Instagram account
Anna Lezhneva, who was away from social media since the beginning, officially started her Instagram account on March 25 this year.
At that time Anna had shared a picture of herself with Pawan Kalyan.
She wrote in the post, "I wanted to join Instagram for a long time. I felt that this is the right time for it. I am very happy to be in front of you with the blessings of Megastar Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalyan."
After joining Instagram, Anna started following many of her family members and film stars.
These include many celebrities including actor Mahesh Babu, Namrata Shirodkar, Samantha, Alia Bhatt.
Pawan Kalyan had also welcomed his wife by writing a post on her joining Instagram.
Pawan Kalyan had written, "A hearty welcome to Anna Lezhneva on Instagram. Congratulations on joining this platform. I hope that in the coming days you will share your thoughts and experiences with us through this platform."
However, now the news is that Anna Lezhneva has closed her Instagram account.
Published by Collective Newsroom for the BBC.
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