'Arya' was the beginning of a journey that changed my life forever, says Allu Arjun

On Wednesday, director Sukumar's superhit film 'Arya', featuring actor Allu Arjun, Anu Mehta and Siva Balaji in the lead, completed 21 years.

Fondly recalling the film, Allu Arjun, on his timeline on X, wrote, "#Arya wasn’t just a film, It was the beginning of a journey that changed my life forever. Grateful for the love, the memories, and the magic that still lives on.#21YearsForArya"

It wasn't just Allu Arjun who remembered the film fondly. The production house that produced the film, Sri Venkateswara Creations too put out posts, recalling the magic the film created.

"Feel my love! 21 years and the feel is still fresh! A pathbreaking love story that changed the game. Not just a film, but a heartbeat of a generation. @alluarjun @aryasukku #AnuMehta @ThisIsDSP @RathnaveluDop @SVC_official #21YearsForArya," it wrote on its timeline on X.

'Arya'was written and directed by Sukumar, best known for directing the popular 'Pushpa' franchise. Arya marked the debut of Sukumar as a director and was a gamechanger of sorts, establishing actor Allu Arjun firmly as a bankable star in the Telugu film industry.

The film's songs, set to tune by Devi Sri Prasad, emerged as huge chartbusters. To add to it, the film boasted stunning visuals, shot by ace cinematographer Rathnavelu, whose outstanding work using natural lighting is well known.

Arya was a romantic drama and a proper commercial entertainer that was released on May 7 2004. The film was remade in several languages including Bengali, Odia, Sinhala and Tamil.

The film took a strong opening and instantly won the hearts of the youth. It emerged a huge commercial success, setting the cash registers at the box office ring. The film went on to emerge such an emphatic success that

'Arya' was turned into a franchise. The second part, Arya 2, featuring Allu Arjun, Kajal Aggarwal and Navdeep, emerged an even bigger success, making the franchise a dearly loved one.