Phanishwar Nath ‘Renu’

Born: 4 March 1921

Died: 11 April 1977

• He  was one of the most successful and influential writers of modern Hindi literature in the post-Premchand era.
• He is the author of Maila Anchal, which after Premchand’s Godaan, is regarded as the most significant Hindi novel.
• The Mandal (surname) community to which he belonged constitutes an under-privileged social group in India.
• He is best known for promoting the voice of the contemporary rural India through the genre of ‘Aanchalik Upanyas’ (Regional Story), and is placed amongst the pioneering Hindi writers who brought regional voices into the mainstream Hindi literature.
• He was very close associate of Bengali novelist Satinath Bhaduri.
• He wrote a memoirs named Bhaduriji (Mr. Bhaduri) in Bengali.
• His short story “Maare Gaye Gulfam” was adapted into a film Teesri Kasam (The Third Vow), by Basu Bhattacharya (produced by the poet-lyricist ShailendraLater his short story “Panchlight” (Petromax) was made into a TV short film. The 2017 Bollywood Film Panchlait is also based on this short story) in 1966 for which he also wrote the dialogues.
• He was subsequently awarded one of India’s highest civilian honours, the Padma Sri  in 1970.

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