South Indian cinema owes a big debt to writer K Vijayendra Prasad for authoring some of their biggest blockbusters including son S S Rajamouli’s mega-hits Baahubali an RRR. Vijayendra who is also the writer of the Salman Khan hit Bajrangi Bhaijaan, has now rescued Karan Johar’s long-in-the-making grossly over-budgeted Brahmastra. Set to be released on September 9 the film directed by Ayan Mukerjee features the director’s buddy Ranbir Kapoor in the lead. Brahmastra is being whispered about as a huge loss maker even before release.
Recently Ranbir Kapoor revealed that Vijayendra Prasad was called in as consultant to make changes in the film and that those changes have added a considerably to the film’s intrinsic value.
As always, Vijayendra Prasad downplays his contribution. “Ranbir Kapoor is being too kind. I have not done anything much. It is like a meal when cooked and someone is asked to taste it. The taster may suggest that the food needs some extra salt. I was shown Brahmastra and asked to give my opinion. I added some salt to the dish, that’s all.”
However the buzz in Karan Johar’s circle is that the climax of Brahmastra has been altered on Vijayendra Prasad’s suggestion. But, Vijayendra denies making any radical changes to the film. “I’ve just tightened some nuts and bolts, that’s all. Please don’t give me excessive credit for some suggestions that I made to fine-tune the product. Ayan Mukerjee has made a wonderful film. Kids will love it.”
