Mannu Bhandari (3 April 1931 – 15 November 2021) was an illustrious Indian author, playwright, and screenwriter who stands as one of the most influential voices in modern Hindi literature. She is widely celebrated as a pioneer of the Nayi Kahani (New Story) movement, which transformed Hindi fiction in the 1950s and 1960s by pivoting toward the psychological realism and complex realities of the emerging Indian middle class