Thread by @aparanjape

Today is the 100th birth anniversary of the great Purushottam Laxman Deshpande - one of the most beloved personalities of the Marathi speaking world.

He was often affectionately referred to just by his initials, 'P.L.' or 'Pu La'.

#PuLa was born in Mumbai on November 8, 1919.

#PuLa was not just an author and a humorist; but also an actor, a musician, a filmmaker, a rationalist, a science enthusiast and much more.

He wrote how Shivaji Maharaj, Tilak, Balgandharva are the most loved personalities of Maharashtra. I think Pu La also belongs to that list.

#PuLa studied at Parle Tilak Vidyalaya, and later at Fergusson College in Pune. He spent many years of his life in Mumbai and later on in Pune. He also briefly worked in Delhi, in the early days of Doordarshan.

I think first and foremost, he was a keen observer of people.

#PuLa's list of books, theater, movies is a long one...and well known: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purushott…

Lesser known is his philanthropy and his love for science. He was an active contributor towards IUCAA and their science outreach efforts. He was a good friend of Dr. Jayant Narlikar.

"“#PuLa was fascinated by science but always felt that it was too difficult to understand,” eminent astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar (81) told The Indian Express as he shared some of his experiences with legendary Marathi writer and humorist P L Deshpande"

indianexpress.com/article/india/…

#PuLa's favorite idols included Chaplin and Tagore. To better understand Tagore's works, Pu La learned Bengali.

Pu La was also very good friends with Bhimsen Ji. They collaborated together in the 1955 film 'Gulacha Ganpati' - featuring this classic song:

#PuLa was not exactly a fan of politicians in general, and wrote some humorous and sarcastic pieces about them (as a group), in some of his writings.

While he wasn't active in politics, he did make some speeches against the Emergency in the 1975-77 time period.

#PuLa was a fan of Savarkar and has made multiple speeches about him - especially about his rationalism, his love for science, his selfless dedication, and about Savarkar the author.

Here's his brilliant speech, at the Cellular Jail in Andaman (1980s).

Here is a #MustWatch documentary for every #PuLa fan!



This nice documentary was made by the Films Division in the 1979/80, to celebrate #PuLa's 60th birthday. It has some rare footage, as well as some great insights about Pu La Deshpande, the person.

'A Renaissance man'

Theatre veteran Vijaya Mehta pays a tribute to her mentor, the legendary Pu La Deshpande

mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/others/things-…

#PuLa "आकाशवाणीमध्ये काम करत असताना पुलंनी लंडनमध्ये BBCचं प्रॉडक्शन ट्रेनिंग घेतलं होतं. त्याबद्दल त्यांनी 'अपूर्वाई' या पुस्तकात लिहिलेले हे अनुभव तुम्हाला वेगळ्याच काळात घेऊन जातील"

bbc.com/marathi/india-… via
@bbcmarathi

@BBCMarathi Two legends: Pandit Bhimsen Joshi interview (1980s) by #PuLa.

They were good friends for many decades:

@BBCMarathi #PuLa

@BBCMarathi In case you haven't seen this yet - here is an amazing lecture by #PuLa about Savarkar


(from a 1980s program in Pune)

@BBCMarathi #PuLa's lecture (1975) at the program to celebrate Prof. B.R. Deodhar's 74th birthday.

Deodhar was an Indian classical singer, musicologist and music educator. He was a vocalist of Khayal-genre of Hindustani classical music.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Deo…

@BBCMarathi A rare interview of Vasantrao Deshpande, by #PuLa



@deshpanderahul

@BBCMarathi @deshpanderahul Veteran radio presenter Ameen Sayani recalls #PuLa’s hand in his career toi.in/nYkvga

@BBCMarathi @deshpanderahul A collection of some great, and not so commonly heard #PuLa Deshpande speeches (audio)

aparanjape.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/som…

@BBCMarathi @deshpanderahul Another classic!

"Mala Umajlele Balgandharva" a program by Kumar Gandharva (1968). Starts with a great speech by #PuLa about Balgandharva.

@BBCMarathi @deshpanderahul Great find! ... #PuLa and Vasantrao Deshpande talk about #Balgandharva ... Vasantrao performs some of his classics

@BBCMarathi @deshpanderahul Rare #PuLa speech .. Pandit Govindrao Patwardhan's 60th birthday function

@BBCMarathi @deshpanderahul Celebrating PL Deshpande — the ‘RK Laxman of prose’

Laughing and making other people laugh was a way of life for this Marathi literary titan.

theprint.in/theprint-profi… #PuLa