Akkineni Nagarjuna and veteran director K Raghavendra Rao's evergreen devotional blockbuster Annamayya completes 20 years by today. The film released on May 22nd in 1997 was a very special film for Nagarjuna and was a surprise package for his fans. Until before the release of Annamayya, Nagarjuna was mostly seen in stylish roles. However, Annamayya shown him in complete devotional avatar for the first time. While it was a routine of actors shaving mustaches to play such roles, Nagarjuna changed the trend by appearing with mustaches in the film.

Annamayya is cinematic of life of 15th century composer, Annamacharya. Though there have been few changes in the original life history of Shri Tallapaka Annamacharya, one could understand these changes helped the movie to become commercially a big hit. MM Keeravani composed audio played key role in the film becoming one of the biggest hits in Nagarjuna's career.

Achievements:
* Annamayya won eight Nandi Awards, three Filmfare Awards and two National Film Awards.
* Annamayya was premiered at the 1998 International Film Festival of India in the mainstream section.
* Annamayya turned out to be a hit with a 100-day run in 42 centres.
* Annamayya had a 176-day run in 2 centres.
* Annamayya audio album is the highest sold Telugu music album till date.