Director J Mahendran dies at 79 in Chennai

CHENNAI: Veteran

director J Mahendran

, who delivered hits such as ‘Mullum Malarum’, ‘Johnny’ and ‘Uthiripookal’, died

in Chennai

on Tuesday morning. He was 79. Mahendran has been in the ICU at

Apollo Hospitals

last week after dialysis and had been on a ventilator.


Born at Illayangudi in Sivaganga district, he began as a journalist and film reviewer for magazine, before turning a scriptwriter, filmmaker and, later, actor. Recently, he played characters with negative shades in the Vijay-starrer ‘Theri’ and Rajini-starrer ‘Petta’. He was last seen in ‘Boomerang’.

Mahendran, who over 53 years directed 12 films and wrote double the number of scripts, will be best remembered for turning around Rajinikanth’s career with ‘Mullum Malarum’ and ‘Johnny’. ‘Sasanam, his last directorial venture which came in 2006 about 14 years after his previous venture, left him disillusioned due to problems with funding. On Tuesday, paying last respects at Mahendran’s residence, a teary-eyed Rajinikanth said, “He is a role model for today’s directors. He would never sacrifice his self-respect for cinema or anything else.”