Nag seems to flick some serenity switch on when he dons saintly roles. Be it Ramadasu, Annamayya or now Shiridi Sai, the actor in him just slips into their avatars with a consistently remarkable ease. No other actor, in recent times, has shown such comfort in these roles. May be he loves the direct contrast of these on-screen roles to his off-screen persona.
People who have met him will testify that he is perhaps the most suavely dressed actors off screen. It even reflects in his costumes when he plays a hero for typical Tollywood pot boilers. But he most definitely seems to find his element when he slips in to the skin of saints of yore. His father had that skill too. While NTR was the king of all mythological characters in Tollywood, it was ANR who stepped up for the saints, as was seen in the Valmiki role in Si Rama Rajyam. This similarity fits the “like father, like son” adage perfectly.