Vijayendra Prasad says he never writes, he only conceives an idea simply because the writer of Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Baahubali , doesn’t like his hand writing. As you wonder how he records all his thoughts, he shares, “Once I conceive, I remember each and every nuance till the copy is ready and then once the film is wrapped I go blank.”
Ever since Baahubali - The Conclusion released, he has been deluged by congratulatory calls and a steady stream of visitors. While it is holiday time for the team of Baahubali , Vijayendra Prasad has moved on to focus on his next projects — a tri-lingual film, Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi being one. A sci-fi thriller Srivalli, in addition to writing for a Tamil and Bollywood movie are also on the anvil. He loves being busy and is not complaining.
“For no fault of us, we get hits like this, sometimes for no fault of us we deliver flops. It is in the hands of the almighty. We embark on a project always hoping that it will work. I am happy that Baahubali is a hit. “I have written it and my son directed it. But what makes me more happy is that Telugu cinema has done it.”
Vijayendra Prasad believes that social content is bound by regional factors but if you go to an era, it belongs to everybody. You cannot confine Ramayana and Mahabharat to one area or one language, says Prasad. “With Baahubali , there is actually more than one factor as to why the nation wanted to know why Katappa killed Baahubali. During final editing, Keeravani suggested to Rajamouli to retain the curiosity factor. Had the first part ended with Baahubali’s coronation, there would not have been any interest. The decision to keep it as a suspense was a last minute one. We were confident about the outcome but we did not know it would surpass all expectations,” he adds.
He stresses that a film on Mahabharata will not happen any time soon and it’s up to Rajamouli to decide what genre he wants to do next. Rajamouli has been shuttling between different genres. After a huge hit like Magadheera , he followed it up with a story that had a comedian as the hero ( Maryada Ramanna with Sunil) and then a fly ( Eega ) as the protagonist. The writer observes, “This is not an experimental film, it is a large scale film. Only the courageous go ahead and only a few invest in it. I feel optimistic of more such films coming in the future. Baahubali 1 was a trailer for Bahubali 2 . The entire film is a trailer, it just introduced characters and we got paid for it. The story is in the second half. It took five years to complete it. It was a nice journey. We never had the time for introspection.”
At an impressive event at Manikarnika ghat in Varanasi on Thursday evening , a 20-feet poster of his next film Manikarnika - the Queen , was unveiled. Not many know that it is her original name and she became Lakshmi Bai only after her marriage.
With stories about kings and queens, wouldn’t he be typecast? Vijayendra Prasad is well aware of his strength and weaknesses and wants to play in a field where he is strong. He says the current crop of writers or directors, barring a few like Trivikram Srinivas, don’t have a grip on literature and history; he wants to occupy this space. “I don’t want to enter into a genre where I don’t have knowledge. I don’t know what contemporary youth think…I can’t write a love story for the current generation. If I do I will be a miserable failure. I’ve been asked to write for Kangana Ranaut and I insisted that Krish (Jagarlamudi) should be the director. I have a very good rapport with him, he shares, and adds, my daughter’s name is Manikarnika and I immediately got connected to it.”
On the topic of whether writers in the film industry get their due, Vijayendra Prasad narrates an interesting anecdote when he went to meet Salim after Bajrangi Bhaijaan story got okayed. Apparantly Salim asked him how much his son Salman Khan is paying him. When he replied he hasn’t discussed with him yet, Salim suggested he take a rupee more than what his son will get as remuneration for the film. He adds, “It seems after the release of Zanjeer , Salim demanded ₹ 10 lakh and one rupee as his pay. When the producer asked him why, he was asking so much, he replied that as a writer he can create an Amitabh but Amitabh cannot create a Salim.” The day a writer gets paid as much as a hero or as a bit more than a hero, it’s be a golden age of writers, he stresses. He says in the last five years no one approached him for his stories. He is now writing screenplay for a Vijay’s film.
“In Mumbai, a writer gets a lot of respect,” he signs off.
