Manu Bhandari

Mannu Bhandari began her career as a Hindi Professor. From 1952-1961 she taught at Kolkatta’s Baliganj Shiksha Sadan, 1961-1965 at Kolkata’s Rani Birla College, 1964-1991 at Miranda House College, Delhi University and from 1992-1994 she chaired the directorship at Ujjain’s Premchand Srijanpith, in Vikram University. In 2008, Bhandari was honoured with the Vyas Samman, instituted by the K K Birla Foundation for her autobiography Ek Kahaani Yeh Bhi. This award is given every year for outstanding literary achievements in Hindi.

Her works reflect the changing moods of society, as they shape and mould her writing and subject matter. Modernism, prevailing social issues and transformations, contemporary social situations, daily struggles of an individual have all played a part in impacting and influencing Bhandari’s works.

Bhandari's first novel, Ek Inch Muskaan, was published in 1961. It was co-authored with her husband, the writer and editor Rajendra Yadav. The story was conceived by Bhandari and involved a romance between a man and two women. Yadav contributed the title, and they wrote the dialogues for the male and female characters respectively.[5]

She followed with her first individually published piece of writing, a story titled Main Haar Gayi (I've Lost) in 1957. Her second novel, Aap Ka Bunty (Your Bunty) portrayed the collapse of a marriage through the eyes of a child, the titular Bunty, whose parents ultimately divorce and remarry other people.[5] Published to great acclaim, the novel has been described as a 'milestone and a turning point in Hindi literature'.[6] It has been translated widely, including into French, Bengali, and English.[7] This story was later adapted to a highly popular and successful play and was performed all over the nation, including at the (Bharat Rang Mahotsav) (National Theatre Festival), in New Delhi.

In Yahi Sach Hai (This is Truth) Bhandari wrote about a woman attempting to choose between her two loves; one from her past and one from her present.[5] Her novel, ‘Mahabhoj’ (1979) highlights the struggles and battles of a common man constantly getting sucked into the bureaucratic corruption endemic to India. Other stories and novels include Ek Plate Sailab (1962), Teen Nigahon Ki Ek Tasvir, Trishanku, and Aankhon Dekha Jhooth.

Bhandari, along with her husband, Rajendra Yadav, as well as other writers in Hindi, including Krishna Sobti, were key figures in the Hindi literary movement called Nayi Kahani (New Story).[3] Their approach was focused on real life experiences in opposition to the structured, romantic style of their predecessors.[3]

Critic and writer R.S. Singh has noted on an assessment of Bhandari's oeuvre that her "...forte is the middle-class woman seeking emancipation from social and moral conservatism in order to develop her personality on an equal footing with man's, and thus make her existence meaningfully significant."[5] Her portrayal of female characters, use of irony, and symbolism have won critical acclaim.[5]

In addition to her own fiction, Bhandari has written screenplays for adaptations of two of her own works; for the film Rajnigandha (adapted from her story, Yahi Sach Hai) and Jeena Yahan. She also wrote the screenplay for the film Swami, which was based on a novel by Saratchandra Chattopadhyaya.[7]

• Ek Inch Muskaan translated into Kannada (H.S Parvathi)
• Aapka Bunty translated into Marathi (Indumati Shevde), Gujarati (Niranjan Sattavala), Tamil (Charu Ratnam), Kannada (H.S Parvathi), Bengali (Renuka Vishvaas), Odiya (Saudamini Bhuyan), English (Jairatan, Sunita Jain), Japanese (translation directed by Hashimoto)
• Mahabhoj translated into Marathi (Padmakar Joshi), Bengali (Ravindranath Ghosh), Gujarati (Girish Solanki), English (Richard Williams, Ruth Vanita), French (Nicole Balbeer)
• Mahabhoj (play) translated into Marathi (Arvind Deshpande - Sangeet Natak Akademi, Goa) and Kannada

• Nine stories compiled under the name Ek Tee, translated into Marathi (Shubha Chitnis)
• Three compilations of nine stories from Satya, five stories from Uttung, and nine stories from Trishanku translated into Marathi (Chandrakant Bhonjal)
• Ten stories translated and compiled in Bengali (Gauri )
• Ten Stories translated and compiled in Manipuri (Meghchand)
• Compilation of five translated stories into English - The Dusk of Life translation (Neelam Bhandari)
• Compilation of eight stories into the language of Tajikistan (Meherunissa)
• Yahi Sach Hai translated into German and Japanese (Barbara Bomhoff)
• Rani Maa Ka Chabutra translated into French (Annie Montaut), Spanish (Alvaro Enterria)
• Nai Naukari translated into French (Kiran Chaudhary)
• Shaayad translated into Hungarian (Eva Aradi)
• Chashme translated into Dutch (Rob Van Dijk, Reinder Boverhuis, Irma Van Dam)
• Trishanku translated into German (Rosmarie Rauter), English (Charles Dent), English (nancy Stork, Newhouse)
• Stri Subodhini translated into English (Nancy Stork-Newhouse)

Bhandari sold the rights to her second novel, Aap Ka Bunty and it was subsequently adapted for a film produced by Dharmendra Goyal and directed by Sisir Mishra. The film, Samay ki Dhara, starred Shabana Azmi, Shatrughan Sinha, Tina Munim and Vinod Mehra.[9] Bhandari subsequently sued the filmmakers, Kala Vikas Pictures Pvt Ltd, on the grounds that the adaptation distorted her novel and consequently violated Section 57 of the Indian Copyright Act, 1957. The judgment in this case, Manu Bhandari v. Kala Vikas Motion Pictures Ltd is a landmark decision in Indian copyright law that clarified the scope of an author's moral rights under Indian copyright law. The Court held in favor of Bhandari, but she and the producers ultimately settled out of court.

• Telefilm based on Akeli story, shown on Delhi Doordarshan Channel
• Rajendra Nath adapted Trishanku into a telefilm for Delhi Doordarshan
• Yusuf Khan adapted Nasha into a telefilm for Lucknow Doordarshan
• Rani Maa ka Chabutara was adapted into a telefilm by Vibha Sharma for Bhopal Doordarshan
• Asamyik Mrityu was adapted into a telefilm for Delhi Doordarshan by Manju Singh
• Mahabhoj story was adapted into a telefilm by William Ash for BBC London

• Ek Inch Muskaan (1962) (Experimental fictional work, along with colleague Rajendra Yadav) ISBN 8170282446
• Aapka Bunty (1971) ISBN 978-8171194469
• Mahabhoj (1979) ISBN 9788171198399
• Swami (2004)

• Mai Haar Gai (1957)
• Ek Plaite Sailab (1962) ISBN 978-8171197071
• Yahi Such Hai (1966) ISBN 978-8171192045
• Tin Nigahonki Ek Tasvir (1959) ISBN 978-8171197132
• Trishanku (1978) ISBN 978-8171197286
• Meri Priya Kahaniya (1973)
• Pratinidhi Kahaniya (1986) ISBN 978-8126703456
• Srestha Kahaniya (1979)
• Sampurna Kahaniya (2008)

• Bina Deevaron Ke Ghar (1966)
• Mahabhoj: Dramatisations (1981)
• Bina Divaron Ka Ghar (1965)
• Pratishodh tatha Anya Ekanki (1987)

• Katha-Patkatha (2003)

• Ek Kahaani Yeh Bhi: (2007) It is a story of how her life was shaped by her contemporaries, her college life, her life as a freedom fighter and the pados culture of India before independence.

• Aankhon Dekha Jhooth (Anthology of Stories)
• Aasmata (Fiction)
• Kala (Fiction)