Pune: The birth centenaries of three cultural icons — Sudhir Phadke, Purushottam Laxmanrao “PuLa” Deshpande and Gajanan Digambar Madgulkar (GaDiMa)— will be celebrated on July 25 with music, dance and audio-visual presentations at the Yashwantrao Chavan Auditorium.The event is being organized by the Pune Municipal Corporation and two cultural groups — Samvad Pune and Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Chitrapat Mahamandal.The three men are known for their contribution to art and culture in Marathi. They are responsible for thousands of songs, plays, poems, screenplays and have even produced films.“July 25 is the 99th birth anniversary of Phadke, and both PuLa and GaDiMa complete their 100th birth anniversary next year as well, that is why we decided to put together an evening as a tribute to their work and their contribution to our culture. Other organizations have also come forward to support the programme,” Sunil Mahajan, a member of of Samvad Pune.The event will be inaugurated by Pune mayor Mukta Tilak and former chairman of the civic standing committee, chairman Murlidhar Mohol. Organizers said other dignitaries from the Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Natya Sammelan and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh will also be present at the inaugural ceremony.There will be a line-up of music, dance and audio-visual presentations by various artists, including Phadke, Deshpande and Madgulkar themselves through archival footage.The three were especially known for their contribution to films, having sung, scored music, acted in and even produced films.Phadke and Madgulkar had also collaborated, with Phadke lending his voice to Madgulkar’s ‘Geet Ramayana’ verses. He also produced a film on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, whom he considered an icon, and also scored and sang for the film. It released in 2001, after being in production for many years.

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