Purushottam Laxman Deshpande (alternatively written as Pu La Deshpande; 8 November 1919 – 12 June 2000), popularly known by his initials ("Pu. La.") or as P. L. Deshpande, was a
Marathi writer and humorist from
Maharashtra. He was also an accomplished film and stage actor, script writer, author, composer, musician, singer and orator. He was often referred to as "Maharashtra's beloved personality".[1][2][3][4][5]
Deshpande's works have been translated into several languages including English and
Kannada.[6]
The family used to stay at Kenway House, Procter Road in the
Grant Road locality in Mumbai. His family then moved to
Jogeshwari. His first 8 years at the newly formed Saraswati Baug Colony are described in the story titled 'Balpanicha Kaal Sukhacha' or Bālpaṇicā Kāḷ Sukhācā (translation: the happy days of childhood) in his book Purchundi. The family then moved to
Vile Parle.[9]
His first wife, Sundar Divadkar, died soon after their wedding. On 12 June 1946, Deshpande married his colleague,
Sunita Thakur.[8] She (Sunita Deshpande) was to go on to become an accomplished writer in her own right.[10] The couple did not have any children of their own. They raised Sunitabai's nephew,
Dinesh Thakur as their own son. Pu La wrote on Dinesh in his book Gangot.
Professional life
Educator
Both Deshpande and his wife served as teachers in Orient High School, Mumbai. He also worked for some years as a college professor in Rani Parvati Devi College,
Belgaum in
Karnataka and
Kirti College in Mumbai.
Television
He also worked for
Doordarshan, the state-owned TV channel. He was the first person to interview the then Prime Minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru, on Indian television. He was seconded to the
BBC for a year-long training. After this, he spent some time in France and
West Germany. It was this specific period and stays in these countries that his later
travelogue "Apoorvai" was to be based upon. His other travelogues are "Poorvaranga" and "Jave Tyanchya Desha".[8][9]
Film and music
Deshpande was a man of many talents. Apart from writing, the talents he used in filmmaking included writing
screenplays, directing, acting, composing music, and singing. He was instrumental in establishing the iconic
Bal Gandharva Ranga Mandir in Pune. He was a proficient in
Hindustani classical music.He composed music for many marathi films of 1940s and '50s including 'Amaldar', 'Gulacha Ganapati', 'Ghardhani', 'Chokhamela', 'Dudhbhat', 'Dev Pavla', 'Devbappa', 'Navrabayako', 'Nave Birhad', 'Manache Paan' and 'Mothi Manase'.[8][11] He was also the composer for many popular non-film songs in the
"bhavegeet" genre sung by singers such as
Jyotsna Bhole,
Manik Varma and
Asha Bhosale.
Death
Deshpande died in Pune, Maharashtra, on 12 June 2000, due to complications from
Parkinson's disease. He was aged 80. He died on the couple's 54th wedding anniversary.[12][13]
Most of Deshpande's literary contributions are in the Marathi language.[9] Although he wrote across several genres, he was particularly well known for his works of humor. He also adapted prominent works from other languages into screenplays - scripts - for films in the
Marathi. Prominent examples include:
The "P. L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy" was established by the Government of Maharashtra in
Mumbai to honour his contributions to Marathi literature– 2002[17]
Donation to Neehar, a hostel for the children of sex workers[22]
Donation for closed-door
auditorium and an open theatre for the blind students at
Baba Amte's Anandvan[22]
Supporter of Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (Committee for Eradication of blind Superstitions), promoting cultivation of scientific temperament
Pu. La. Deshpande's wife, Sunita Deshpande, donated Rs.25 lakhs to IUCAA towards Muktangan Vidnyan Shodhika, a building aptly named as "PULASTYA" (a name of a star and memory of PULA.) After the demise of Sunita deshpande, the copyrights of most of Pu. La's books were given to IUCAA and the royalties received from Pu La's works is used to spread Science awareness among young kids by IUCAA.[23][verification needed]
In popular culture
Films and television
Gola Berij, a 2012 Indian Marathi-language film directed by Kshitij Zarapkar, presents a fictionaized account of his life.[24]
Namune, a television serial on
Sony SAB based on Deshpande's literature, has the actor
Sanjay Mone play the role of Deshpande. Along with Sanjay Mone, there are various actors from the Hindi and Marathi film industry.[26]
Documentaries
Documentary on Pu. La. Deshpande:[27] This is a Govt. of India Films Division documentary, in which Pu La himself reveals his life journey. It was filmed on the occasion of his 60th birthday. There are two other documentaries made on Pu La:
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ab"Padma Awards"(PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015.
Archived(PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 21 July 2015.