Well known Marathi playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar will be honoured with the prestigious ‘Janasthan’ Puraskar. The award comprising of Rs. 1 lakh along with the memento will be presented to him on 10th March 2011 in Nashik. Mr. Elkunchwar, known for his literary works for dramas like ‘Yuganta, Garbo, Vasanakand, Rakthapurush, Wada Chirebandi, Aatmakatha, Holi, Pratibimb, Rudravarsha and Party deserved the award. This award is being given in memory of well known poet Kusumagraj and in 1993, when it was instituted, Mr. Vijay Tendulkar was the first recipient.

Two films were made in Bollywood based on his original plays ‘Holi’ and ‘Party’ by Ketan Mehta and Govind Nihalani respectively, with the same name. Mr. Mahesh Elkunchwar has already been conferred with other prestigious awards like Sangeet Natak Academy Award and the Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar in the past, in appreciation of his contribution to theatre world.