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Genres:  Drama Censor: U Duration: 153 min. Studio / Presenter: Viacom18 Motion Producer: Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar,Avinash Athaley, Vaibhav Pandit, Mahesh Patel, Virendra Upadhye DOP: Karan B. Rawat Director: Mahesh Vaman Manjrekar Cast:  Sagar Deshmukh, Irawati Harshe, Sachin Khedekar, Hrishikesh Joshi, Mrunmayee Deshpande. Movie Review by: Ulhas Shirke.

There is hardly any family in Maharashtra which does not know the name of Purushottam Laxman Deshpande, popularly known by his initials ‘Pu. La.’ A multifaceted personality that he was, ‘Pu. La.’ was a renowned Marathi writer and humorist from Maharashtra. He was also an accomplished film and stage actor, besides being a script writer, author, composer & musician (as he played the harmonium very well). But, above all, he was a good singer and orator. In short, he was referred to as “Maharashtra’s beloved personality”. This year being his birth centenary, a biopic ‘Bhai – Vyakti Ki Valli‘ has been presented by film maker Mahesh Manjrekar and the same is being released in theatres from Friday 4^th January 2019.

‘Pu.La.’ passed away in the year 2000 at the age of 81 and Maharashtra lost a legend. However, he is still remembered by his admirers and a biopic on him has turned out to be a biggest tribute to this legendary personality. The film which has been released in Part I, (with second part to be followed next month) presents the important happenings in the life of this legend, right from his childhood, including his marriage and achieving success thereafter. Director Mahesh Manjrekar shows his last stage, when he moves into Coma in Pune hospital and then we see all the happenings in his life in flashback, with his wife Sunita going down memory lane, remembering the golden moments in their life.

The research work of this film has been done very systematically, not missing anyone, whoever came closer into his life. One more interesting fact shown in this film was during his stint when he served as a teacher and where he met his wife Sunita also a teacher in Orient High School, Mumbai. It was at this place he met Bal Thackeray as a student and spotted his skills in caricature and encouraged him to pursue this art. There is little scope for Sachin Khedekar and Mrunmayee Deshpande who play ‘Pu.La’s father and first wife who depart early due to their illness. Besides Sachin and Mrunmayee, there are many other renowned artistes from Marathi stage, television and films, who have considered their privilege to play small roles .

‘Pu. La’s’ association with renowned classical singers Kumar Gandharva, Pt. Bhimsen Joshi & Vasantrao Deshpande have been picturised very skillfully offering a real treat to the classical music lovers in the concluding part of the film. ‘Pu.La’ s ability to connect with different people coming into his life, through his narrative style of humour has been captured very well by the creative director in Mahesh Manjrekar.

The screenplay by Ganesh Matkari and dialogues by Ratnakar Matkari are the plus points of this film, besides wonderful performances by lead artistes Sagar Deshmukh, Irawati Harshe, Ashwini Giri, whose characters of ‘Pu La’, Sunita-his wife and his mother are in continuity in the film’s screenplay. Superb cinematography by Karan B Rawat, excellent art direction by Prashant Rane, brilliant make- up by Vikram Gaikwad and good editing work by Abhijit Deshpande & Sourabh Prabhudesai certainly need a special mention. There is lot more to see in the life of ‘Pu. La’ and his admirers will be eager to wait for the release of 2^nd part. Certainly the best tribute to this legendary Marathi writer. A must watch film for all.