Pune: The 19th death anniversary of noted humourist Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, fondly known as Pu La Deshpande, was observed by Aashay Sankrutik that organised ‘Bilhan - Ek Pulakit Sakal’ at Balgandharva Rangmandir on Wednesday.
Pu La Deshpande is referred to as ‘Maharashtra’s Favorite Personality’ for his multifaceted accomplishments as an author, screenplay writer, actor, director, music director and singer.
Virendra Chitrav, Festival Director at Global Pulostsav, said that ‘Bilhan- Ek Pulakit Sakal’ is a set of songs, for which P L
Deshpande did music direction and veteran poet Mangesh Padgaonkar had written lyrics.
He said, “This musical was very close to Deshpande. Bilhan- Ek Sangitika was first composed for Akashvani and was broadcast in 1956 when he was working as a producer there. Many songs from this musical are famous even today. This musical, when presented first, was presented by Pt Jitendra Abhisheki, Ramdas Kamat, Shobha Gurtu and Kishori Amonkar.”
He added, “Bilhan was a Sanskrit poet from Kashmir who was given equal status as that of Kalidas. Further, this musical was not presented as much as his other works or plays. This musical was very close to his heart.”
Mangala Godbole, writer and humorist, was the chief guest on the occasion. She said, “This year also marks his centenary birth anniversary and even today, people all over the world come together to celebrate him and his literature which is no less than a milestone. When I was asked to write Deshpande’s biography for the second time, I wondered as to what new element I can write or add as everyone knew everything. But when I started writing it, I realised there were so many aspects to look at and write upon as there was new set of information coming up.”
She also spoke about many funny stories she came across while writing the biography. She said, “I came across a story from sources that, when Deshpande was studying at Fergusson College, drama activities started after some time and a lot of students also joined in.”
“There was a girl from SP College who was interested in his theatre activities and slowly, she started visiting Fergusson College more often. She had decided to take admission in Fergusson College next year. When Deshpande got to know about it, he gathered his friends and decided to contribute money to pay the fees of that girl for next three years. But I did not mention all this in the biography.”
