Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan writer reveals his secrets

He is happy and it shows on his face. Vijayendra Prasad has every reason to be on cloud nine. Wouldn't you be if you had just delivered two of the biggest blockbusters Indian cinema has seen? One that has made 300 crore rupees in nine days, and the other 100 crore rupees in the first three days alone. Prasad is the man who wrote the story of Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

When I met him, he had just returned to Hyderabad, having taken a holy dip in the Godavari during the Pushkar. He was even more delighted because the trip had given him feedback first hand from the masses.

"I was in a train and the co-passengers did not recognise me. They were discussing Baahubali and were abusing the story writer for having ended the film in suspense. They were cursing using unparliamentary language that they will have to wait till next year to know what happens next. To me, their desperate urge to know what happens next, was a big compliment,'' explained Prasad.

If Baahubali garnered praise both for its visual spectacle and the imagination of the writer, Prasad has been recognised for his deft handling of a tricky subject like India-Pakistan in Salman Khan's Bajrangi Bhaijaan.

"None other than Salim Khan called me to say he has not seen such a beautiful movie before. Salman called me on 17th evening to tell me - Prasad Sir, you are the hero of the movie,'' gushes Prasad. The story of a person who braves challenges to take a little girl back home across the border to Pakistan had touched hearts. So much so that the film is a hit even across the Wagah.

"Salman told me he did not need to use glycerine for any of the melodramatic scenes. He told me the story was so emotional,'' says Prasad.

Interestingly, Bajrangi Bhaijaan was not written with Salman in mind. Prasad had been inspired by newspaper reports of a Pakistani child being operated upon at a hospital in Chennai and how the visit to India changed the impression about the people of this country for the Pakistani parents. While agreeing anyone could have played the lead, Prasad believes casting Salman was perfect, paying generous tribute to the charitable work the actor does.

At 72, Prasad is fairly young in the world of showbiz - only twenty stories old. Seven of them were directed by son SS Rajamouli. "The main reason Rajamouli likes to make movies is because he likes to direct action scenes. Which is why he has a fascination for gigantic, larger-than-life images. The story of Baahubali was inspired by Chandamama and Amar Chitra Katha," says Prasad.

Prasad is a meticulous person. Bajrangi Bhaijaan was given to director Kabir Khan as a 120-page bound script, like a draft screenplay. "Baahubali was double that number, about 240 pages," says Prasad.

I ask Prasad how is it that the same brain wrote one movie, whose central theme is war and violence and the other film preaching non-violence. One film, a period drama, and the other rooted in modern-day reality. "After you eat a sweet, don't you like to eat something salty too," he asks a counter-question and laughs at the cleverness of the retort. That is perhaps also the secret of his success, keeping it simple.

The writer is a bit taken aback at insinuations of rape and sexist attitude in Baahubali. "It is not rape, it is consensual sex. We did not show that once she makes love, she becomes weak. The idea was to have the hero bring out the feminine side in the woman, who was completely warrior-like," he explains.

Prasad is flooded with offers since the double ka dhamaaka. "I always have half a dozen stories with me, it depends on what a filmmaker wants,'' he says. Bollywood is calling for Prasad, just as it has been for his son SS Rajamouli, and looks like the writer will be a frequent flyer on the Mumbai-Hyderabad route.