V. Vijayendra Prasad | |
|---|---|
 Prasad in 2019 | |
| Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
| In office 07 July 2022 | |
| Preceded by | Roopa Ganguly |
| Constituency | Nominated (Cinema) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Koduri Viswa Vijayendra Prasad[1] 27 May 1942[2] Kovvur, Madras Presidency, British India (present-day Andhra Pradesh, India) |
| Relatives | S. S. Rajamouli (son) |
| Occupation |
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Koduri Viswa Vijayendra Prasad (born 27 May 1942) is an Indian screenwriter and film director who predominantly works in Telugu cinema.[3] He also worked in a few Hindi, Kannada, and Tamil films. His filmography consists of more than twenty five films as a screenwriter, most of which were commercially successful.[4]
His notable work as a screenwriter includes films like the Baahubali series, RRR (2022), Bajrangi Bhaijaan (2015), Manikarnika (2019), Magadheera (2009), and Mersal (2017).[5][6][7][8] In 2011, he directed the Telugu film Rajanna, which won the Nandi Award for Best Feature Film.[9] In 2016, he won the Filmfare Award for Best Story for the film Bajrangi Bhaijaan.[10] His upcoming films include 1770, Sita: The Incarnation, Aparaajitha Ayodhya, Pawan Putra Bhaijaan, and Vikramarkudu 2.[3]
On 6 July 2022, President of India Ram Nath Kovind nominated him as a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Indian Parliament.[11]
He was born as Koduri Viswa Vijayendra Prasad. He hails from Kovvur near Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh. He studied at Sir C.R. Reddy College in Eluru.[4]
Prasad's family had lands in Kovvur which were lost when the railways lines went most through them.[12] Then, Prasad moved to Karnataka from Kovvur in 1968. He claims to be a Kannadiga as well Claim to be a Kannadiga. 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.[13] He also ventured into various businesses which ended up as losses.[4]
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.[4]
Prasad got introduced to K. Raghavendra Rao through Samatha Arts' Mukherjee who was a friend of his. Raghavendra Rao started giving him and Datta small assignments. They got their first break with Janaki Ramudu (1988) which became successful at the box office.[4][14]
Next, he wrote the film Bangaru Kutumbam (1994) which won the Nandi Award for Best Film.[15] His next film was Bobbili Simham (1994) which was commercially successful and earned Prasad recognition as a screenwriter.[4] He later provided the story for Samarasimha Reddy (1999) which became one of the biggest hits of the time in Telugu cinema.[16]
Prasad had an inter-caste love marriage with Raja Nandini who belonged to Kapu caste.[17][18] They have two children—a daughter who now lives in Australia and a son S. S. Rajamouli, a filmmaker.[17] 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.[19][17] He 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.[20] On July 6, 2022, Indian government nominated Prasad to the Rajya Sabha.[11]
Nandi Award for Best Feature Film – Rajanna
Best Story – Bajrangi Bhaijaan
Best Story – Bajrangi Bhaijaan
The Iconic Trade Achiever of the Year – 2015 Award from Indywood Film Market
All films in Telugu unless otherwise noted.
| Film | Year |
|---|---|
| 1996 | Ardhangi |
| 2006 | Sri Krishna 2006 |
| 2011 | Rajanna |
| 2017 | Srivalli |
