“I don’t write stories, I steal stories”: V Vijayendra Prasad at IFFI 53 Masterclass

I don’t write stories, I steal stories. Stories are there around you, be it epics like Mahabharat, Ramayan or real-life incidents, there are stories everywhere. You need to represent it in your unique style, said V Vijayendra Prasad, the famed screenwriter of blockbuster films like Baahubali, RRR, Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Magadheera. He was talking at the 53rd edition of International Film Festival of India, Goa. Talking about how he started his journey, he said, “I did everything possible to earn a living including agriculture before becoming a writer. The writing came much later in life.”

Talking about keeping the audiences in mind while writing, the writer said, “I always try to create hunger within the audience for my story and characters and that drives me to create something unique and appealing”.

While talking about his style of screenwriting, Shri Prasad said, he always thinks of a twist at the interval and organizes the story accordingly. “You have to create something out of nothing. You have to present a lie, which looks like the truth. A person who can tell a good lie can be a good storyteller”, he added.

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Responding to the query of a budding story writer, the ace storyteller said, one has to open up his mind and absorb everything. “You need to be your own harshest critic, then only your best will come out and you can take your work to unscalable heights”, he asserted.

Sharing his experience of writing for the blockbusters like Baahubali and RRR, Shri Prasad said, “I don’t write, I dictate stories. I have everything in my mind; the flow of the story, the characters, the twists”. He said, one good writer should cater to the needs of the Director, Producer, Primary Protagonist and Audience.

When asked if he compromises during writing a commercial film since a commercial film has a lot of masala, song and dance etc, he said, “I would not like to think like that. We are catering to a large section of audiences so we have to ensure there is enough for people to come and watch those films, else one can write a story and publish it in a book.”