Koduri Viswa Vijayendra Prasad (born 27 May 1942) is an Indian screenwriter and film director who predominantly works in Telugu cinema. His filmography as a screenwriter consists of over 25 films. He is considered to be one of the most successful screenwriters of Indian cinema. He has frequently collaborated with his son, director S. S. Rajamouli, to deliver some of the highest-grossing Indian films of all time.
His notable work as a writer includes films like Bobbili Simham (1994), Magadheera (2009), Eega (2012), Baahubali duology (20152017), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015) and RRR (2022). In 2011, he has directed Rajanna, for which he won the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film.Small wonder – The Hindu. Thehindu.com (1 January 2012). Retrieved on 2015-10-31. In 2016, he won the Filmfare Award for Best Story for Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
On 6 July 2022, President of India Ram Nath Kovind nominated him as a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament.
Early life Prasad was born on 27 May 1942 in a Telugu family, in Kovvur near Rajahmundry, Andhra Pradesh. He studied at Sir C. R. Reddy College in Eluru.
Prasad's family had lands in Kovvur which were lost when the railway lines went through most of them. Then, Prasad moved to Karnataka from Kovvur in 1968. He, along with his elder brother K. V. Sivashankar, bought seven acres of paddy fields in Hirekotikal village of Manvi Taluk in Raichur district. Their family moved back to Kovvur in 1977. He also ventured into various businesses which ended up as losses.
Career His brother Siva Shakthi Datta's passion for films made Vijayendra Prasad and his family to shift to Madras. Datta assisted a couple of directors for some time and started a film titled Pillanagrovi which was stopped midway due to financial reasons. As his brother was already in the film industry, Prasad started assisting his brother.
Prasad got introduced to K. Raghavendra Rao through Samatha Arts' Mukherjee who was a friend of his. Raghavendra Rao started giving he and Datta small assignments. They got their first break with Janaki Ramudu (1988) which became successful at the box office.
Next, he wrote the film Bangaru Kutumbam (1994) which won the Nandi Award for Best Film. His next film was Bobbili Simham (1994) which was commercially successful and earned Prasad recognition as a screenwriter. He later provided the story for Samarasimha Reddy (1999) which became one of the biggest hits of the time in Telugu cinema.
Personal life Prasad married Raja Nandini.; Event occurs from 36:12 to 38:51 They have two children—a daughter who now lives in Australia and a son S. S. Rajamouli, a filmmaker. Prasad is uncle to music composers M. M. Keeravani, M. M. Srilekha, and Kalyani Malik.
Prasad dropped 'K' from his name, K. V. Vijayendra Prasad as he felt it was an indicator of his caste. He cited Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana as a source of his inspiration. He cites 1957 Telugu film Mayabazar, as his all-time favourite film. He also cited the screenwriting duo Salim–Javed (Salim Khan and Javed Akhtar) as a major inspiration on his work, especially their screenplay for Sholay (1975), among other films. On 6 July 2022, Indian government nominated Prasad to the Rajya Sabha.
Filmography
Year Title StoryScreenplayDirectionLanguageNotes 1988 Janaki Ramudu Telugu1994 Bangaru Kutumbam Bobbili Simham 1995 Gharana Bullodu Aalu Magalu 1996ArdhangiDirectorial debut Sarada Bullodu Also dialoguesAppaji Kannada 1998 Kurubana Rani Yuvarathna Rana Telugu 1999 Samarasimha Reddy 2000 Okkadu Chalu 2003 Simhadri 2004 Sye Vijayendra Varma 2005 Naa Alludu Chatrapathi Pandu Ranga Vittala Kannada2006Sri Krishna 2006TeluguVikramarkudu 2007 Yamadonga 2009 Mitrudu Magadheera 2011Rajanna 2012 EegaTeluguTamil2015 Baahubali: The Beginning Bajrangi Bhaijaan Hindi 2016 Jaguar KannadaTelugu 2017 Baahubali 2: The Conclusion TeluguSrivalliMersal Tamil 2019 Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi Hindi 2021 Thalaivii TamilHindi 2022 RRR Telugu 2025 Baahubali: The Epic 2027
Television Aarambh: Kahaani Devsena Ki (2017; StarPlus)
Awards and nominations + Award Year Category Work Result Filmfare Awards2016Best StoryBajrangi BhaijaanInternational Indian Film Academy Awards2016Best StoryBest ScreenplayNandi Awards2011Second Best Feature FilmRajannaProducers Guild Film Awards2015Best StoryBajrangi BhaijaanScreen Awards2016Best StoryStardust Awards2015Best StoryBest Screenplay
References
External links