Purushottam Laxman Deshpande (8 November 1919 – 12 June 2000) was a distinguished Marathi writer from the state of Maharashtra, India. He was popularly known by just his initials as "Pu. La. and was also given the affectionate title of Maharashtraache laadake vyaktimattva (Maharashtra's most beloved personality).
Apart from his writing, P. L. Deshpande was well-known for his all-round achievements as an accomplished film and stage actor, music composer, harmonium player, singer and orator.

Born in Mumbai (Bombay) to Laxman and Lakshmibai Deshpande, P. L. Deshpande received his college education at Fergusson College in Pune and Willingdon College in Sangli. For some years, he worked as a college professor and a school teacher before embarking on his career in writing and in the multiple fields of acting, directing, and composing music in the world of movies. In 1946, he married Sunita Thakur, who is an accomplished author herself and has acted in some plays in the past. Wit was a hallmark of the writings of Deshpande. He wrote plays, essays, life sketches, short stories, novels, travelogues, screenplays for films, and movie lyrics. Deshpande took lessons in playing harmonium from Dattopant Rajopadhye of Bhaskar Sangitalaya. He was proficient in Hindustani classical music and deep interest in Marathi musical theater. He was an accomplished music director and a singer.
He was also an admirer of Rabindranath Tagore, and learnt Bengali just so that he could read Tagore's Gitanjali in its original form.

Deshpande was a prolific writer and produced numerous original works as well as adaptations of works from other languages into Marathi. He preferred to identify his Marathi adaptations of plays and novels in other languages as bhaavaanuvaad, meaning "adaptation of the essence".