Purushottam Laxman, or Pu La, Deshpande may just have been the original Indian stand-up comedian. The Maharashtrian icon is most famously known as a writer and humorist, and way back in the '60s, when stand-up comedy wasn't even a thing in India, he would regale audiences in the hundreds with his witty observations about life and the things we all love and hate about it.

Decades later, Mumbai comedian Mandar Bhide is bringing Deshpande's tongue-in-cheek brand of humour back to the stage with a show inspired by the writer's works. Bhide will perform an hour-long Marathi set in the city on Sunday. He says, "In his day, there was no Amazon or Flipkart. So, to sell his books, he'd organise shows and read out humorous passages. As many as 1,000 to 2,000 people would turn up and, at the end of the show, they'd buy his books. Some would record his shows and many of these can now be enjoyed on YouTube."