Well-known Director and Actress Vijaya Mehta who has been heading the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) will be awarded the fourth, annual Pu La Smriti Sanman at the inaugration of the Pulotsav art festival. She has spent 45 years in the theatre and has directed some path-breaking productions. Jnanpith award winning Marathi litt�rateur V D Karandikar will be honouring her with the award. The Pulotsav art festival is in memory of the famous Marathi Theatre humorist P L Deshpande.

Past recipients of the award include playwright-director-actor Girish Karnad, poet-writer Gulzar and singer Lata Mangeshkar. This year the Pulotsav art festival coincides with Vijaya Mehta�s 75th birthday. The award will be presented to her at the Yeshwantrao Chavan auditorium in Kothrud. It consists of a citation, memento and cash worth Rs 1 lakh.

Noted Marathi actor Nilu Phule was also nominated for the �Jayantrao Tilak Memorial Life Time Achievement Award�. The award was given to him on 5th November 2008 at the Tilak Smarak Mandir in Pune. 5th November is celebrated as the Marathi Rangbhoomi Din. The award was given by the Kesari Maratha Trust, the Tilak Maharashtra Vidyapeeth and the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Natya Parishad, Pune chapter.

BB Kulkarni, Secretary of the Akhil Bharatiya Natya Parishad, Pune Chapter also announced the names of the Mata Janaki awardees, which are given to the wives or mothers of deceased artistes. This year�s award will go to Pramila Marathe, Begum Mirajkar, Vatsala Panse, Thakubai Bandal and Shubhada Solapurkar.

Besides these awards, there is the Laxmi Narayan Jodi award. This award is given to an artiste-couple and this year�s awardees are Maithili and Jayaram Potdar. The award consists of Rs 1000 cash, shawl and a bouquet.