IN PICS | Rajinikanth bids adieu to veteran filmmaker, ‘Petta’ co-star J Mahendran; Kamal Haasan, Vijay Sethupathi, others too pay last respects

Tamil cinema lost a legend with death of writer, filmmaker and actor J Mahendran in Chennai on Tuesday. Celebrities mourned death of veteran, and many paid ir last respects to him. 

READ: J Mahendran: A Legend Who Redefined Tamil Cinema

Rajinikanth, who was lead actor of Mahendran’s directorial debut ‘Mullum Malarum’, was among those who visited him before his funeral and was seen consoling members of family. superstar’s wife Latha Rajinikanth was also spotted. 

Kamal Haasan too was among celebrities who arrived to see filmmaker for last time. 

Vijay Sethupathi, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar and veteran directors Shankar, Priyadarshan too were clicked by cameras at venue. 

Mahendra was 79 and passed away at his residence due to illness. In initial part of his career, he started by writing plays, and rose to fame by writing screenplay of movies like 'Naam Moovar' and Sivaji Ganesan's 'Niraikudam' in  ‘60s. Movies like 'Thanga Padhakkam' in ‘70s established him furr as a writer. 

After his directorial debut featuring Rajinikanth, or movies like 'Uthiri Pookkal', 'Nenjathai Killay' were among his immediate popular works. 'Uthiri Pookal', 'Metti', 'Nandu' and 'Sasanam' were some of his or well-kwn films out of 12 he directed while 'Rishi Moolam' and 'Hitler Umanath' were some of popular films he wrote. 

Mahendran is often credited as one who introduced Tamil cinema to realism, and redefined   industry at a time when  lengthy dialogues ruled roost.  

t just writing and direction, Mahendran was also a popular actor, and even re, his partnership with Rajinikanth was successful. After working as director-actor in 'Kaali', 'Kai Kodukkum Kai' and 'Johnny", y collaborated as co-stars in this year’s release ‘Petta.’ 'Kamaraj' and Vijay's "ri" were his or memorable works in  acting  department 

READ: Rajinikanth Leads Team Petta's Celebrations As Film Completes 50 Days At Box Office, His Family Joins In

Suhasini Maniratnam, AR Murugadoss and many or celebrities expressed ir grief on Twitter and conveyed condolences to his near and dear ones.