Born in 1950 into a family with a musical background. His grandfather, Puranik alias Pandharpurkar Bua, was the lead singer-actor in the famous Gandharva Natak Company from 1913 to 1926. He taught classical music to Shanta Apte. He later joined Prabhat Film Company as a singer-actress. His father, Hari Shankar Puranik, was a musician and disciple of Ustad Vilayat Khan, who used to play sitar on a radio station.

Arun Puranik, who presently works as a Consultant, in Corporate affairs at Tata Power, was once a Vice President of Reliance. He is a freelance journalist. He has written for leading newspapers and weekly publications like Loksatta, Maharashtra Times, Samana, Navshakti, Prahar, Vruttamanas, and Lokprabha since 1986. His more than 2000 articles and books, like Sargam (Hindi Film Music) in 2000, The Unsung Heroes – A Swar Aalap Creations (Hindi Film Musicians) in 2010, Haravaleli Mumbai (Mumbai History) in 2012, and Hamari Yaad Aayegi (Film Artists) in 2013, have been published. Majestic will publish his new book, Mumbai Talkies (a History of Mumbai’s Old Theatres).

Arun is a filmmaker, an old Mumbai historian, a researcher, and a leading film memorabilia collector. He has preserved rare film memorabilia collected over the last 100 years by his family and himself from Studios, Theaters, and Artists.

He has been a panellist on various TV shows from ETV, IBN Lokmat, CNBC, ABP Majha, History Channel, and Doordarshan as a film historian, content provider, and expert on Mumbai history. In 2011, he organised photo exhibitions (posters, show cards, booklets, and lobby cards) commemorating “100 Years of Cinema” at Kumarswamy Hall, Museum, as part of the Kala Ghoda Festival. Shri Kiran Shantaram and Basu Chatterjee inaugurated it. “Cinema and Mumbai City” in Asiatic Society, Mumbai, 2014. Mr. Shyam Benegal and Mrs. Saee Paranjpe inaugurated it.

He had organized many audiovisual shows on various themes, such as “Salaam Police,” “Sainik Ho Tumchya Sathi,” “Mumbai Theatres,” “Tukaram te Tukaram,” “Yaaden Filmistan Ki,” and “100 Years of Marine Drive.” He made a documentary film for the Opera House Theatre for the ABP Majha channel. He has started a new program, “Flash Back,” every Sunday for the ABP Majha Channel.