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 the death of writer, filmmaker and actor J Mahendran in Chennai on Tuesday. Celebrities mourned the death of the veteran, and many paid their last respects to him. 

READ: J Mahendran: A Legend Who Redefined Tamil Cinema

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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