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To mark the celebration of birth centenary of multi-faceted personality Shri  P. L.  Deshpande, National Film Archive of India has organised a special poster exhibition and film festival at its premises at Law College road in Pune. Renowned actor Ashok Saraf will inaugurate the exhibition and film festival at NFAI on Sunday 18th November, at 10 am in the presence of special guests Kiran Shantaram and Prakash Magdum, director NFAI.

The Exhibition will showcase 26 posters of noted Marathi and Hindi films on which Pu La worked, from Kuber (1947), Vande Mataram (1948), Johar Maibaap (1950), Maisaheb (1953) to his last work Ek Hota Vidushak (1992).

It will highlight various aspects of Pu La’s contribution in Marathi and Hindi cinema as a writer, actor, director and composer.

“This event is a beautiful tribute to the genius artist who ventured into almost every field of performing arts. We plan to take the exhibition to various corners of Maharashtra in the coming year. A special attraction of the exhibition will be the display of the original hand-written copy of the script of Pu La’s cult classic Gulacha Ganpati”, said Prakash Magdum. The script was donated to NFAI by the family members of Rajguru, the producer of the film in 2015.

The three day film festival (18-20 November 2018) will showcase 12 films of P. L. Deshpande, including films like Gulacha Ganpati and Pudhacha Paul. The festival also feature films The Inspector General and Three penny Opera which are later adapted by Pu La for his work Ammaldar and Teen Paisacha Tamasha in Marathi. “The centenary year is also a good opportunity to trace his lost films and other material. We appeal to general public to come forward and help the NFAI so that it can be preserved for future generations “, said Prakash Magdum.

This is sure to be a treat for film enthusiasts and followers of much loved Pu La. The event has been organised in collaboration with ‘Pu.La.Parivar’ and Aashay Film club.

The entry is free and open to all.