J. Mahendran was an Indian film producer, screenwriter and actor in the Tamil film industry. He is considered one of the greatest filmmakers of Tamil cinema. Starting his career as a screenwriter, he established himself as one of the leading filmmakers in the Tamil film industry. He is known for infusing realism into Tamil cinema.
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Mahendran was born on 25 July 1939 (aged 79 at the time of death) in Ilayangudi city of Tamil Nadu, India. He did his schooling in Ilayangudi and completed his intermediate studies from American College, Madurai. He did his BA in Economics from Alagappa Government Arts College, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu. After completing his degree, he went to Madras to study law but due to financial crisis he left his law studies. He went back to Ilayanagud, and on the insistence of Karaikudi Kannappa Valliappan, he joined a magazine called “Enamuzakkam” as a journalist. 
Physical Appearance
Eye colour: black
Hair Color: Black
Family, Caste and Wife
He was born to Joseph Chelliah, a teacher and apothecary. He married Jasmine Mahendran. His son, John Mahendran, is also a director. They had two daughters named Dimple and Anurita.
Mahendran with his family
livelihood
He started his career as a screenwriter for the film “Name Mover” in 1966.
name muwar
The film was extremely successful and he received many offers. He wrote dialogues for classic films such as Thangappadhakkam (1974) and Aadu Puli Aatma (1977). He made his directorial debut in 1978 with the film “Mullum Malarum”.
Mullum Malarum
He directed 12 films, with Sasanam (2006) being the last film when he took a break from Tamil cinema for almost a decade. He returned to cinema as an actor and his first film as an actor was “Theri” in 2016.
He has acted in many big films like Seetakathi (2018), Nimir (2018), and Boomerang (2018).
award
- National Film Award for Best Tamil Feature Film for the film “Nenjathai Kilathe” in 1981
- South Filmfare Award for Best Director for the film “Uthiripukkal” in 1978
- Tamil Nadu State Film Award for the film “Mullum Malarum” in 1978
- Lifetime Achievement Award at News 18’s Magudam Awards in 2018
Favourite Things
- Poet: Rabindranath Tagore
- Filmmaker: Satyajit Ray, BN Reddy
Death
He died on 2 April 2019. He was seriously ill and was admitted to Apollo Hospital in Chennai. He was moved to the ICU after a dialysis session a week before his death.
fact
- During his school days, Mahendran was very active in stage plays.
- Veteran Indian actor and filmmaker and politician MG Ramachandran (MGR) was invited to Mahendran’s college as the chief guest. Mahendran gave a speech which directly criticized the commercial element present in Tamil cinema. MGR was impressed by Mahendran’s speech and said that he could be a good critic.
- MGR met Mahendran again when he was working as a journalist in a magazine and asked Mahendran to script the historical novel “Ponniyin Selvan” for his film. However, the idea was delayed.
- Mahendran wrote a play titled “Anadhaigal”. MGR decided to make this play into a film and he named the film “Vazve Va”, starring him opposite Savitri. The project closed after three days of shooting.
- MGR acted in a film titled Kanchi Thalaivan (1966) and he recommended Mahendran as an assistant director to the director of the film.
- Veteran composer Ilaiyaraaja and Mahendran had a very good relationship. They worked together in many films. Mahendran once said that he narrated his story first to her and then to others and it was like a ritual. After listening to the story, Ilaiyaraaja also suggested him a suitable title for the story.
Ilaiyaraaja J. with mahendran
- Famous Indian cinematographer Priyan once said that he had approached veteran director Mahendran to take him on as his assistant director, which he never did. Casting Mahendran as an actor in his film “Nimir (2018)” was like taking revenge on him.
- He was also the founder of the Blue Ocean Film and Television Academy (BOFTA) in Chennai, where he led film production and direction courses.
- Mahendran is credited with mentoring Rajinikanth during his early days in the industry. On many occasions, Rajinikanth has given credit for his success to Mahendran.
Rajinikanth and J. Mahendran’s throwback picture
- He has inspired many film directors including Mani Ratnam and Shankar.
- He was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at News 18’s Magudam Awards, which he dedicated to Rajinikanth.
- Talking about cinema, Mahendran once said,
This is a forced marriage for me, but I have to live my life in that also. “Sex has become like an act or a prayer for me.”
- Mahendran claimed to be an average student, who always enjoyed attention.
- Mahendran loved reading Tamil and English literature and visited libraries in his spare time.
- During his school days, he published a Tamil magazine for children called “Laadu”.
- During his school days, he participated in almost all the speech, essay writing and drawing competitions.
- When he was in sixth grade, he wrote a play based on Pisiranthayer’s work and presented it as a mono act. It also brought him Tagore’s ‘Gitanjali’.
- Recalling his journey in his autobiography “Cinemavum Naanum (TV programme)”, Mahendran said,
It is my anger towards Tamil films that inspired me to make films that are real, where people smile and talk normally. I made films for pleasure, not for commercial success.” He dislikes the word ‘trend’ and says it is just a gimmick by filmmakers.
- Talking about his classic “Nenjhathai Killadhe (1981)”, Mahendran recalled an incident when he looked out of his hotel window in Mumbai and saw women jogging, he said,
His only concern was fitness. Will the same be the case once she gets married? I wondered. This is how the script took shape.”
- He was introduced to good cinema through his uncle. He said that he watched two Hollywood films and noticed that they did not have any strong dialogues or big action scenes. Later, he was introduced to Satyajit Ray and “Teen Kanya (1961)” through veteran filmmaker BN Reddy, which proved to be an eye-opener for him.
Categories: Biography
Source: vcmp.edu.vn