<b>Mahendra Jakhar</b> is an ex-journalist currently working as an independent screenwriter and author based in Mumbai. He started as a journalist in Delhi with <i>The Times of India</i>, where he worked for six years before moving to Mumbai to pursue his dreams of being a scriptwriter. <br><br> His first novel <i>The Butcher of Benares</i> was published by Westland Publications. It was rated as the Best Crime Fiction Debut Novel of the Year by <i>Mint, The Economic Times</i>, and was an Amazon Rising Star. The book has been adapted as a Netflix series <i>Mandala Murders</i> by Yash Raj Entertainment. His other novels include </i>The Swastika Killer, Chakra Warriors, Housewife </i>and <i>The Diary of a Prostitute</i>. As a scriptwriter, he wrote the script for the Hindi feature film <i>Manjhi�The Mountain Man</i> directed by Ketan Mehta, and starring Nawazuddin Siddique and Radhika Apte. Earlier, he has written scripts for Mahesh Bhatt�s <i>The Killer</i>, starring Irrfan Khan and Emran Hashmi, Tigmanshu Dhulia�s <i>Shaagird</i>, and many television shows including <i>CID, Maano Ya Na Maano, Seeta aur Geeta, Dwarikadhish</i>, and others. <br><br> His film script <i>Bhiwani</i>, based on the boxers of Haryana, was selected for the International Film Festival of India, for the competitive section at Film Bazaar. <br><br> Mahendra also conducts workshops on screenwriting, to help discover the creativity, imagination and ideas hidden in every person. He�s a TEDx speaker and has taken creativity workshops for <i>The Times of India</i>, IIT Kanpur and IIM Ranchi, among others. <br><br> You can reach him at: <br> mahenjakhar@gmail.com<br> X (formerly Twitter): @mahenjakhar<br> Instagram: @mahenjakharworld
