Mahendran Wiki, Age, Wife, Family, Biography & More

J. Mahendran was an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter, and actor in the Tamil Film Industry. He is regarded as one of the greatest filmmakers of Tamil Cinema. Starting his career as a screenwriter, he had established himself as one of the prominent filmmakers in the Tamil Film Industry. He is known for infusing realism in the Tamil Cinema.

Wiki/Biography

Mahendran was born on 25 July 1939 (age 79 years at the time of death) in Ilayangudi town of Tamil Nadu, India. He did his schooling in Ilayangudi and completed his intermediate in American College, Madurai. He did his B.A. in Economics from Alagappa Government Arts College, Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu. After completing his degree, he went to Madras to study law but discontinued due to the financial crisis. He went back to Ilayangud, and upon the insistence of Karaikudi Kannappa Valliappan, he joined a periodical named “Inamuzhakkam” as a journalist. 

Physical Appearance

Eye Colour: Black

Hair Colour: Black

Family, Caste & Wife

He was born to Joseph Chelliah, who was a teacher and Manonmani. He got married to Jasmine Mahendran. His son, John Mahendran is also a director. He had two daughters named Dimple and Anurita.

Career

He started his career as a scriptwriter for the film “Naam Moovar” in 1966.

The film was a huge success and got him several offers. He wrote the dialogues for the classics like Thangappadhakkam (1974) and Aadu Puli Aatam (1977). He made his directorial debut with the movie “Mullum Malarum” in 1978.

He had directed in 12 films, Saasanam (2006) being the last when he took a break from Tamil cinema for almost a decade. He made his comeback in cinema as an actor, and his debut movie as an actor was “Theri” in 2016.

He has acted in several big-ticket movies like Seethakaathi (2018), Nimir (2018), and Boomerang (2018).

Awards

• National Film Award for the Best Feature Film Tamil for the film “Nenjathai Killathe” in 1981

• Filmfare Awards South for the Best Director for the film “Uthiripookkal” in 1978

• Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for the film “Mullum Malarum” in 1978

• Lifetime Achievement Award at News 18’s Magudam Awards in 2018

Favourite Things

• Actor: Kamal Haasan, Rajnikanth

• Musician: Ilaiyaraaja

• Poet: Rabindranath Tagore

• Filmmakers: Satyajit Ray, B.N. Reddy

Death

He died on 2 April 2019. He was critically ill and was admitted to Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. He was rushed to the ICU, a week before his death after his dialysis session.

Facts

• During his school days, Mahendran was very active in stage plays.

• M. G. Ramachandran (M.G.R), the veteran Indian actor and filmmaker and politician was invited to Mahendran’s college as a Chief Guest. Mahendran gave a speech that directly criticised the commercial element existing in the Tamil Cinema. M.G.R was impressed with Mahendran’s speech and said that he could be a good critic.

• M.G.R met Mahendran again when he was working as a journalist in a periodical, and he asked Mahendran to make the screenplay of the historical novel “Ponniyin Selvan” for his film. However, the idea was delayed.

• Mahendran wrote a play titled “Anaadhaigal.” M.G.R decided to make the play into a film, and he named the film as “Vaazhve Vaa” in which, he acted alongside Savitri. The project got shelved after three days of shooting.

• M.G.R acted in a film called Kaanchi Thalaivan (1966), and he recommended Mahendran as an assistant director to the director of the movie.

• Ilaiyaraaja, the veteran music composer, and Mahendran shared a great bond. They worked together in many films. Mahendran once said that he narrated his story first to him and then to the others and it was like a ritual. Ilaiyaraaja also suggested him a suitable title for the story after listening to it.
  

  Ilaiyaraaja With J. Mahendran

• Priyan, the noted Indian cinematographer, once said that he approached the veteran director Mahendran to take him as his assistant director, which he never did. Casting Mahendran as an actor in his movie “Nimir (2018)” was his sweet revenge on him.

• He was also the founder of the Blue Ocean Film and Television Academy(BOFTA) in Chennai where he headed the filmmaking and direction course.

• Mahendran is credited for mentoring Rajnikanth during his initial days in the industry. During several occasions, Rajnikanth has credited Mahendran for his success.
  

  Throwback Picture Of Rajnikanth And J. Mahendran

• He has inspired many film directors including Mani Ratnam and Shankar.

• He was given Lifetime Achievement Award at News 18’s Magudam Awards, which he dedicated to Rajnikanth.

• Talking about Cinema, Mahendran once said,

It is a forced marriage for me, but even in that, I have to live my life. It has become an act of sex or like a prayer to me.”

• Mahendran claimed to be an average student, who always craved attention.

• Mahendran liked to read Tamil and English Literature and used to visit libraries during his spare time.

• Back in his school days, he published a Tamil magazine for children titled “Ladoo.”

• During his school days, he participated in almost all the elocution, essay writing, and drawing competitions.

• When he was in class VI, he wrote a play based on Pisiranthayar’s work and performed it as a mono act. It won him Tagore’s ‘Geetanjali‘ too.

• Recounting his journey in his autobiography “Cinemavum Naanum (TV program)” Mahendran said,

It is my anger towards Tamil films that motivated me to make films that are real, where people smiled and spoke normally. I made films for pleasure and not for commercial success.” He dislikes the term ‘trend’ and says that is just a gimmick of filmmakers.”

• Talking about his classic “Nenjaththai Killadhey (1981)” Mahendran recalled an incident when he looked out of his hotel window in Mumbai and saw women jogging, he said,

Her concern was just fitness. Would it be the same once she gets married? I wondered. That is how the screenplay took shape”

• He was introduced to good cinema through his uncle. He said that he watched two Hollywood movies and noticed that there were no loud dialogues or larger-than-action sequences. Later, he was introduced to Satyajit Ray and “Teen Kanya (1961)” through the veteran filmmaker B.N. Reddy, which turned to be an eye-opener for him.