Rajamouli proud of his father

SS Rajamouli, who unveiled the soundtrack of his father Vijayendra Prasad’s directorial ‘Sri Valli’ in Hyderabad recently, heaped high praise on the veteran writer. Stating a few incidents that made him feel proud of his father, he said, “My father and peddananna (Siva Sakti Datta) were born with a silver spoon but as time progressed, all our wealth vanished.

We used to stay in Chennai in the ‘80s and they both used to run the house (with their writing skills). They were ghostwriters back then and the whole family used to wait to see their names in newspapers. The wait ended when I first spotted their names in Sitara magazine. My joy knew no bounds that day and it was one of the proudest moments for me and the whole family.”

Recalling another incident which mentions about how Prasad is in tune with modern times despite him mostly penning commercial potboilers, Rajamouli noted, “Dad was into a lot of English fiction but, to my surprise, I didn’t find such content in his scripts (in the ‘90s). When I asked him why, he narrated me a Hollywood line set in the backdrop of nuclear arms and Tsunami. I did not even hear the word Tsunami back then. But when Tsunami finally struck India early last decade, I recalled the story that he had narrated to me.”