Manjiri Prabhu (born 30 September 1964) is an Indian author,

TV producer A television producer is a person who oversees one or more aspects of video production on a television program. Some producers take more of an executive role, in that they conceive new programs and pitch them to the television networks, but upon a ...

and filmmaker. She has been hailed as the 'Desi Agatha Christie' (Indian Agatha Christie) by the media and is acknowledged as being the first woman writer of mystery fiction in India.

Early life

Manjiri Atmaram Prabhu was born in

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

to Atmaram Prabhu, a businessman and Shobha Prabhu, a prominent astrologer in a family of five siblings. Manjiri started experimenting with novels at a young age and acknowledges

Enid Blyton Enid Mary Blyton (11 August 1897 – 28 November 1968) was an English children's writer, whose books have been worldwide bestsellers since the 1930s, selling more than 600 million copies. Her books are still enormously popular and have b ...

and Agatha Christie as her early inspiration. She attended St. Joseph's High School and did her graduation and Masters in French from

Ferguson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by the Deccan Education Society. Professor Vaman Shivram Apte was its fi ...

and

Pune University Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Poona, is a collegiate public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshk ...

. Manjiri then completed her post graduate diploma in Social Communication Media from

Sophia College, Mumbai Sophia College (Autonomous) is an undergraduate women's college established in 1941 by Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is affiliated to the University of Mumbai. The governing body of The Society for the Higher Education of Women in In ...

. and PhD in Communication Science from Pune University.

Career

Manjiri joined the State Institute of Educational Technology (Balchitravani) as a TV producer where she directed more than 200 infotainment programs aimed at children and young adults. During this time, her unpublished novel was adapted into a Hindi feature film titled'' Kuchh Dil Ne Kaha'' for the

National Film Development Corporation of India The National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) based in Mumbai is the central agency established in 1975, to encourage high quality Indian cinema. It functions in areas of film financing, production and distribution and under Ministr ...

and she wrote the script and dialogues for the same. She also produced short drama films for Filmaka and directed travelogues. Manjiri is also the founder-director of the Pune International Literary Festival and International Festival of Spiritual India.

Bibliography

*''Symphony of Hearts (Romantic Suspense)'',

Rupa Rupa may refer to: Places * Rupa, Croatia, a town in northwest Croatia * Rupa, Arunachal Pradesh, a town of Arunachal Pradesh * Rupa gold mine, an artisanal mine in Uganda * Rupa Lake, a freshwater lake in Nepal Science * ''Rupa'' (beetle), a b ...

(1994) *''Silver in the Mist (Romantic Mystery)'',

, (1995) *''Roles: Reel and Real (Non-fiction on Hindi films)'', (2001) *''The Cosmic Clues (Mystery Detective fiction)'', Bantam Books, (2004) *''The Astral Alibi (Mystery Detective fiction)'', Bantam Dell, USA, (2006), republished as ''Stellar Signs'', Jaico, (2014) *''The Cavansite Conspiracy (Romantic Suspense Thriller)'',

, (2011) *''The Gypsies at Noelle's Retreat - Riva Parkar Mystery series'', Times Group Books, (2013) *''In the Shadow of Inheritance (Romantic Mystery Suspense)'',

Penguin India Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

, (2014) *The Trail of Four (Destination Mystery Thriller), Bloomsbury India (2017) *Revolt Of The Lamebren (Dystopian Science Fantasy), Readomania (2018) *Voice Of The Runes (Destination Mystery Thriller), Bloomsbury India (2018) *Mystery At Malabar Cottage (Children's Mystery), Readomania (2019) * Flipped- Adventure Stories Children's Anthology), Story - The Treasure on Cocofarm, HarperCollins India (2019) * The Final Act of Love (Romantic Mystery Suspense), Amazon Kindle (2020) * The Adventures of Mithoo (Children's Fantasy), Readomania (2021) * The DOGtrine of Peace (Non-fiction Spiritual), Readomania (2021)

Awards and recognition

*''The Astral Alibi'' honored as 'Notable Fiction' in

Kiriyama Prize The Kiriyama Prize was an international literary award awarded to books about the Pacific Rim and South Asia. Its goal was to encourage greater understanding among the peoples and nations of the region. Established in 1996, the prize was last awa ...

(2007) *''The Cavansite Conspiracy'' awarded 'Best Mystery' by BTB Awards (2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhu, Manjiri 1964 births Indian women television producers Indian television producers Indian women novelists Indian women filmmakers Living people Writers from Pune 20th-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian women writers Women writers from Maharashtra Novelists from Maharashtra Film producers from Maharashtra Women television producers