The Butcher of Benares

Mahendra Jakhar is an ex-journalist currently working as a scriptwriter for feature films and television shows. He did his BA (English Literature) from Kirori Mal College, Delhi University, and started working as a freelance photo-journalist for an English daily. Soon, he was working full-time as a crime reporter.

He shifted to Mumbai in 2006 to pursue a career as a freelance scriptwriter. His first film project was a Mahesh Bhatt film, The Killer, starring Irfaan Khan and Emran Hashmi. He has done scripts for shows like CID, Mano Ya Na Mano, Seeta aur Geeta, and others. He also did research and writing for the documentary on the hijack of IC-814 from Kathmandu to Kandahar for Discovery Channel.

His latest film project is the soon-to-be-released Mountain Man directed by Ketan Mehta. Currently, he is working on a script for a film to be directed by Ashwini Chaudhary. He has also worked with Tigmannshu Dhulia on the film script of Shaagird, starring Nana Patekar.

A voracious reader, his all-time favourites are crime thrillers and murder mysteries. Jakhar says he hopes to come up with more such interesting and universal stories.

His film script, Bhiwani, was selected for the Co-Production Market at the India International Film Festival, 2013, held in Goa.

Interestingly, he shares his birthdate, 15 September, with the likes of Agatha Christie, Marco Polo and Oliver Stone.