Do you think K Raghavendra Rao infused a few commercial elements in the narrative of Shirdi Sai? Akkineni Nageshwara Rao, whose recent Valmiki avatar in Bapu's Sri Rama Rajyam is still fresh in our minds, thinks so. It might be that ANR, like Bapu, is a purist. Thus, when he watched his son’s latest film, he had a question in his mind.

ANR, who watched the historical film made on the Mystic of Shirdi in United States, asked Nagarjuna, "Commercial elements have been interlaced even in a film of this kind? Was it necessary?"

The son's response was atypically routine. "If we had not done that, the film would have looked like a documentary."

Nag was on a success tour for the last three days. "Wherever I watched the movie, everyone from a 9-year-old to a 90-year-old seemed to enjoy the film. People told me that I am blessed. Someone even told me 'You are next only to NTR.' What more can I ask for?"

Nag has a wish for Chai and Akhil. "I wish that they too get a KRR who could help them shine through roles of this kind." Let's see if Chai and Akhil will ever get do magnum opuses like Annamayya and Sri Ramadasu.