On November 08, 2020, Google commemorated the 101st birth anniversary of P.L. Deshpande, a writer, playwright, musician, composer, actor, director, philanthropist, and a joyful humourist and satirist, with a doodle by a Mumbai-based artist, Sameer Kulavoor. Born in 1919 in erstwhile Bombay, he was a college lecturer before pursuing his career in music, and soon gained fame as a proficient Hindustani classical musician. He worked for the newly-founded Doordarshan and was the first to interview the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on Indian television, and was recommended to the BBC for training. Thereafter, he spent some time in France and West Germany, which led to his travelogue ‘Apoorvai’. He breathed his last at 80 in Pune, Maharashtra, on June 12, 2000, due to complications from Parkinson’s disease.
His writing premiered in ‘Bombay’ magazine in the late 1940s. Besides, he also adapted prominent literary works in other languages into Marathi. He played as an actor and playback singer in ‘Kuber’ (1947); wrote the screenplay and dialogue for ‘Jaga Bhadyane Dene ahe’ (1949); and directed music for ‘Mothi Manase’ (1949) among many others. He is also well known for his humanitarian and social welfare work.
He received the Padma Bhushan in 1993, the Padma Shri in 1966 and many other noted literary awards. The Government of Maharashtra established in 2002 an academy to honour his contributions to Marathi literature, namely, P.L. Deshpande Maharashtra Kala Academy.
Courtesy: The Hindu, rehabs.in