YG Mahendran turns 75 today

YG Mahendran is an accomplished stage and screen actor. He is the son of YG Parthasarathy, a notable pioneer in modern Tamil stage dramas. He is the brother-in-law of Superstar Rajinikanth and the nephew of actor and producer K Balaji. He is also the cousin of yesteryear actress Vyjayanthimala.

Mahendran showed an early affinity to the stage and proved to be a versatile and popular actor on stage, achieving a level of fame greater than many screen actors of the time. He was introduced to the screen by K. Balachander in the film Navagraham and soon entrenched his place as the lead actor’s sidekick or comedian.

YG Mahendran’s 100^th film, Uruvangal Maaralaam, saw him play the lead role under the direction of S.V. Ramanan, the son of K. Subramanyam (a popular director who directed Thyagaraja Bhagavathar’s first film, Pavalakodi). Uruvangal Maaralaam is the only film to bring together on screen Sivaji Ganesan, Rajinikanth and Kamalhaasan in important guest roles.

Mahendran turned director through the 1998 film Kathai Kathaiyam Karanamam which saw him share the lead role with Jaishankar and Rajeev.

YG Mahendran was recently seen in a cameo appearance in Vijay’s The Greatest of all Time and his last released film was Prabhu Deva’s Jolly o Gymkhana.

YG Mahendran turns 75 today.