In addition to his own commentary on “Mahabharata”, V. Vijayendra Prasad is currently working on the script for the sequel to “RRR”. For the uninitiated, “Mahabharata” focuses on the familial struggles between two groups of cousins during the Kurukshetra War and the fates of the Kaurava and Pāṇḍava princes and successors. There is much to be learned from the “Mahabharata”, including the highly dramatic tales of royal power struggles that are not unlike the “Dragon House”.
prasad said during the masterclass that he always tries to make his audience “hungry” for more and brings out the best possible flow and twists in a story. “You can think about what will happen before and after that event,” he said. “I think of the high points and then connect them. You have to create something out of nothing.” He uses a technique he calls “clap points”, which are the moments that matter most to cause the audience to clap, and how important it is to “move the audience from one applause point to the next, to the crescendo.”
“Within five minutes, the viewer should be hooked on the movie, knowing the nature of the movie and where it will end. That’s the mental map I’ve been watching,” he said. Indian epics are filled with “moments of applause”, especially one that includes smaller narrative stories and philosophical discussions throughout the story like the “Mahabharata”. Being handsome, Prasad also admitted that his stories lack female leads, and joked that he’d be glad to take a pay cut if that meant someone would greenlight one of his female lead screenplays.
So who will give Prasad the budget he deserves?