Mumbai: In a shocking incident Veteran actor-director J Mahendran passed away at the age of 79.
He took his last breath at his residence in Chennai today.
His funeral is slated to be held at 5 pm today.
Mahendran is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Tamil cinema and has influenced several filmmakers of the generations followed.
Film star Rajnikanth and Kamal Hassan paid homepage Mahendran at his residence today.
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Mahendran entered the film industry as a screenwriter, writing scripts for nearly 26 films. He made an immediate impact with his first directional venture Mullum Malarum (1978). Mahendran’s next film Uthiripookkal, based on a short story written by Pudumaipithan, firmly established him as an important filmmaker in Tamil cinema.
His Nenjathai Killathe won three National Film Awards including the award for the best regional film. He has also acted in films during the latter part of his film career, including Kamaraj (2004), Theri (2016) and Nimir(2018). Before his death, he was the head of the direction department of BOFTA Film Institute in Chennai.
In 1979, Mahendren was awarded Filmfare award (Tamil-film Industry) for the best film Mullum Malarum.
