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 "Awards and recognition Punyabhushan – 1993 Padma Bhushan – 1990[16]Born Purushottam Laxman Deshpande 8 November 1919 Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India Died 12 June 2000 (aged 80) Pune, Maharashtra, India Other names P. L. Deshpande Pu. La. Bhai Occupation Writer Spouse Sunita Deshpande (m. 1946) Relatives Vaman Mangesh Dubhashi (maternal grandfather) Satish Dubhashi (cousin brother) Dinesh Thakur (nephew) Website puladeshpande.net Signature PL-D-sign.png