Google Doodle honoured legendary Indian writer, musician and philanthropist Purushottam Laxman Deshpande on his 101st birth anniversary

Google Doodle is celebrating the 101st birthday of legendary Indian writer, playwright, musician, composer, actor, director and philanthropist Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, popularly known by his Marathi initials Pu La.

The the doodle honoured the legendary artist with an illustration by the Mumbai-based guest artist Sameer Kulavoor.

Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, popularly known by his initials (“Pu. La.”) or as P. L. Deshpande, was born on November 8, 1919. He was a Marathi writer and humorist. He was also an accomplished film and stage actor, scriptwriter, author, composer, musician (he played the harmonium), singer and orator. He was often referred to as “Maharashtra’s beloved personality”.

Deshpande’s works have been translated into several languages including English and Kannada. Pu La Deshpande was a proficient Hindustani classical musician. He went on to gain fame as an author, screenplay writer, actor, director, music director and singer. He participated in several philanthropist activities.

Most of Deshpande’s literary contributions are deeply rooted in Marathi language. Although he wrote across several genres, he was particularly well known for his humorist literature. He produced several original works and also adapted of prominent works from other languages into Marathi. Prominent examples include the 1952 film Ammaldar, based on Nikolai Gogol’s Inspector General, the 1962 book Kay Wattel Te Hoeel. Based on translation of Helen and George Papashvily’s script of Anything Can Happen etc. He referred to his adaptations as Bhawanuwad or paraphrasing instead of the conventional “translation” or “adaptation”.

Deshpande died in Pune, Maharashtra on 12 June 2000 due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. He was aged 80.