Ravi Kishan

Ravi Kishan (born Ravi Kishan Shukla) is an Indian actor, politician, and television personality. He has worked in 750 + films across several languages, including Hindi, Bhojpuri, Telugu, Kannada, and Tamil. Kishan is also known for his active involvement in social causes and politics - he is the Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha from Gorakhpur.

He was born in Mumbai, but due to a dispute in his family's dairy business, they shifted to Uttar Pradesh when he was 10 years old. When he was 17, he ran away from his home to Mumbai with only Rs. 500.

He started his acting career on the big screen with the film Pitambar (1992) and went on to act in several other Hindi films like Zakhmi Dil (1994), Aatank (1996), Koi Kisise Kum Nahin (1997), Keemat: They Are Back (1998), Hera Pheri (2000), Marshal (2002), In Your Name (2003), Aan: Men at Work (2004), Gehri Chaal: The Final Move (2005), Phir Hera Pheri (2006) and Welcome to Sajjanpur (2008), along with Raavan (2010), Tanu Weds Manu (2011), Bullett Raja (2013) and Batla House (2019). He also made his debut in Tamil cinema with the film Monishaa en Monalisa (1999).

He has also been a part of reality shows, including Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 5 (2002) and Bigg Boss (2006). He has hosted several reality shows, such as Bathroom Singer (2007) and Ek Se Badhkar Ek - Jalwe Sitaron Ke (2008), along with Raaz Pichhle Janam Ka (2009). He went on to become a judge of the show Sales Ka Baazigar (2013) on ETV. Mauka e Vaardat , Swarna Swar Bharat (2023)

Apart from Hindi and Tamil films, Kishan has acted in many Bhojpuri films, such as Saiyaan Hamar (2003), Raja Bhojpuriya (2005), Banke Biharee M.L.A. (2007), Dharam Veer (2008), Bhoomiputra (2009), Satyamev Jayate (2010), Ek Aur Faulad (2012), Love Aur Rajneeti (2016), Sanki Daroga (2018) and others.

Kishan went on to dub Tobey Maguire'S role in Spider-Man 3 (2007) into Bhojpuri, which was later dubbed in languages. Known predominantly for his work on television, Kishan was awarded the Most Popular Actor award in 2008 at the ETV Bhojpuri Cinema Samman ceremony.

In 2014, Kishan joined the Indian National Congress (INC) from the Jaunpur Constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He contested in the general elections in the same year and finished in sixth place. In 2017, Kishan left INC and joined the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP). In 2019, he again contested in the general elections against the Samajwadi Party candidate in Gorakhpur Constituency - he won the elections this time.