KV Vijayendra Prasad, a prominent screenwriter known for his works primarily in Telugu cinema, has been named as one of the Presidential nominees to the Rajya Sabha. Vijayendra Prasad, who is the father of filmmaker SS Rajamouli, has also worked in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi films, and is behind many major blockbusters across various film industries such as Mersal, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, and the Baahubali duology as well as RRR. Prime Minister Modi took to Twitter on Wednesday, July 6 to make the announcement about the Rajya Sabha nominees.
Twelve members of civil society are nominated to the Rajya Sabha by the President for a term of six years. These nominees, selected on the advice of the Prime Minister, are people who have made significant achievements in the fields of arts, literature, science etc. Vijayendra Prasad is among four nominees from the south Indian states. The others include sportsperson PT Usha from Kerala, music maestro Ilaiyaraaja from Tamil Nadu and philanthropist Veerendra Heggade from Karnataka. With this, an official government said, the nominees include a Dalit woman and a member of a religious minority group (Heggade, who is Jain).
Shri V. Vijayendra Prasad Garu is associated with the creative world for decades. His works showcase India's glorious culture and have made a mark globally. Congratulations to him for being nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 6, 2022
Eighty-year-old Vijayendra Prasad is a popular screenwriter who has written the story and/or screenplay for more than 25 films. His works are primarily in Telugu. The most popular ones outside the Telugu states are the Baahubali films and the recent blockbuster RRR. In Hindi, the hit film Bajrangi Bhaijaan is based on his story. In Tamil, he co-wrote the screenplay for the 2017 hit film Mersal starring Vijay. He also wrote the screenplay for the Jayalalithaa biopic Thalaivii starring Kangana Ranaut.
Born in Andhra Pradesh’s Kovvur, some of the movies he has written have transcended sharp regional boundaries and become blockbusters across the country. Along with his son Rajamouli, he has delivered many other hit Telugu films like Magadheera, Vikramarkudu, Chatrapati, Sye and Simhadri. Before he started to collaborate with Rajamouli, he wrote several hit films in the 1990s, including Gharana Bullodu, Janaki Ramudu and Samarasimha Reddy.
The official nomination statement reads, “He has been instrumental in instilling cultural pride and nationalistic spirit through cinema.”
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