Manu Bhandari

Mannu Bhandari Yadav (3 April 1931 – 15 November 2021) was an Indian author, screenplay writer, teacher, and playwright. Primarily known for her two Hindi novels, Aap Ka Bunty (Your Bunty) and Mahabhoj (Feast), Bhandari also wrote over 150 short stories, several other novels, screenplays for television and film, and adaptations for theater. She was a pioneer of the Nayi Kahani movement in Hindi literature, which focused on the aspirations of the emerging Indian middle class, and her own work is notable for its depiction of the inner lives of middle class working and educated women. Her work tackles themes of family, relationships, gender equality, and caste discrimination in India.

Bhandari's writing has been extensively adapted for film and stage, including productions for Doordarshan (India's public broadcast service), the BBC, and National School of Drama in India. Her work has been widely translated into other Indian languages from Hindi, as well as French, German and English. She received numerous awards in India for her work, including the Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan and the Vyas Samman. She was one of the most notable writers in 21st century Hindi literature, with the Indian Express describing her as a "doyenne of the Hindi literary world," after her death.