Today, 23rd May 2006 is a special day for Nagarjuna as he completes 20 years in the film industry. In this event a felicitation function was arranged by K. Raghavendra Rao, who incidentally is celebrating his 63rd birthday today, at Prasad Labs Preview Theater. The event, hosted by Suma, was attended by Nagarjuna's family and friends.

A small film showcasing the career of Nagarjuna, which was prepared by Raghavendra Rao, was screened following which the guest spoke of their favorite actor and friend Nagarjuna. ANR, Amala, Venkat Akkineni, Sumanth, D. Ramanaidu, Mohan Babu, Aswini Dutt, Jayabheri Kishore, K.L. Narayana, Murali Mohan, Yarlagadda Surendra, Arjuna Raju, J.K.Bharavi, Puri Jagannadh, Y.V.S. Chowdary and Chalasani Ramesh graced the occasion.

"Hello Brother was the movie in which I, for the first time noticed that Nagarjuna acted with a lot of ease and now with Sri Ramadasu he proved himself to be a full fledged actor" veteran Telugu actor and father of Nagarjuna, ANR said. Speaking about K.Raghavendra Rao, ANR continued "His (Raghavendra Rao) father K.S.Prakasa Rao was one of the first generation heroes of our industry, who later became a producer, studio owner and a director. He was a very realistic film maker and his film 'Kanna Talli', in which is acted, is my favorite film, even above Devadasu. I know Raghavendra Rao from when he was a kid; in fact I used to watch him go to school along with his brother. Earlier I used to worry about the kind of films he made, specially about the songs picturised on his heroines, where the camera would focus on their navel, he justified it by saying that if the producers had to make money with the film, then he would have to leave his personal opinions and ideology aside. But now he has evolved himself into a fine film maker who can easily strike a balance between and art and commerciality in movies. After making good movies like Annamayya and Sri Ramadasu, I wish that he will make a movie about Kalidasu with Nagarjuna".

Where Aswini Dutt proclaimed Nagarjuna as his favorite hero and wished that Raghavendra Rao would complete 200 films, writer J.K. Bharavi said that he wanted to write a script for ANR as Rama Krishna Paramahamsa and Sumanth as Swamy Vivekananda.

"Nagarjuna has features of a global figure" Actor and MAA president Mohan Babu said "he is also a good human being with a helping nature. He is my well wisher. When other actors were reluctant to work with me in the past, Nagarjuna was good to me. He agreed to do a guest role in my movie Adhipati, even before he was told about the character".

Actor and Producer Murali Mohan while talking about his association with K .Raghavendra Rao and K.S.Prakasa Rao, expressed a desire to produce a film about Jesus Christ if Nagarjuna and Raghavendra Rao would agree to do the film.

Echoing Mohan Babu's words was K.L.Narayana "I produced two of Nagarjuna's films. During the pre release time of Hello Brother, Nagarjuna was very assuring and supportive. He did not even take the remaining payment that was due him. He is a good friend and a good human being. I will not forget the kind of support he lent me during my tough times".

Actor and Nagarjuna's nephew, Sumanth had this to say about his uncle "Nagarjuna has crossed many milestones in his career and now he is a trend setter. He is a guiding light for the younger generation of actors".

Finally the man himself took to the mike. Although he was basking in the compliments showered on him, Nagarjuna still maintained a humble tone "it was my brother Venkat who suggested that I become an actor, after I returned from the US with my engineering degree. And my father also encouraged me in this line. Now after 20 years in the industry and 75 films, I bow to all my directors and producers for the encouragement they gave me. And also to me fans who have been my solid support through my good and bad times. I will never be alone with fans like them. I also thank Amala, who always greets me with a smile when I go home. The Telugu film industry is a corruption free industry and I am proud to be a part of it. Here family lineage or money does not hold value. People watch films only if they are good. It is the talent that is appreciated and talent that stands out".

Nagarjuna and K.Ragavendra Rao celebrated their special day by cutting a cake.