Remembering maverick director, J Mahendran on his birth anniversary

Mahendran is best remembered as a director who introduced a new style of filmmaking to Tamil cinema in the 1980s, but his career in films began two decades before.

He was born on 25 July 1939 in the Sivagangai district.

Mahendran was still in college when he delivered a speech in the presence of M.G. Ramachandran. The speech bravely tackled some of the weaknesses of commercial Tamil cinema. MGR was so impressed by his thinking that he later asked Mahendran to script Ponniyin Selvan for the screen after planning a big budget film on the famous novel. Unfortunately, the project got shelved.

MGR then saw Mahendran’s stage play Anaadhaigal and asked Mahendran to adapt this story for the screen. Titled Vaazhve Vaa, it had MGR opposite Savitri Ganesan and had completed filming, but was permanently shelved.

Mahendran officially began his film career as a story writer in the 1966 film Naam Moovar. Three years later he wrote the story for the Sivaji Ganesan-Vanisri starrer, Nirai Kudam. He also scripted the Kamalhaasan-Rajinikanth starrer, Aadu Puli Aattam.

Mahendran had a public distaste for the unrealistic aspects of mainstream commercial cinema and therefore delayed his entry as a director, as he firmly believed that audiences would be unable to adjust to his filmmaking style.

When he eventually made his debut with Mullum Malarum with Rajinikanth, Shoba and Sarath Babu in the lead roles, it was a film that took the film world by storm. The loudness of the actors, the wordy exchanges and the melodramatic encounters that Mahendran detested were not there, replaced by a strong visual sense, and scenes that used subtlety in body language and facial expressions to convey powerful emotions through limited dialogue. He also formed a lasting bond with Illaiyaraja who delivered an outstanding soundtrack and background score for the film.  

Mullum Malarum won the Filmfare Award for Best Film and marked a breakthrough for Rajinikanth’s screen. It also firmly established Mahendran as a director who could be compared to K. Balachander and Bharathiraja.

Mahendran won the Filmfare Award for Best Director with his second directorial, Uthiri Pookal.

Mahendran’s fourth directorial – The Rajinikanth-Sri Devi starrer, Johnny – did not win any major awards, but won lots of critical praise because it dispensed with most commercial aspects and still managed to become a box-office hit.

His fifth directorial, Nenjathai Killathey, won a National Award for Best Film and introduced Suhasini to the screen and was also the first major role for Mohan.

Mahendran’s sixth directorial, Nandu was the first of his films to fail at the box-office. The film introduced Suresh to the screen, had positive reviews but could not register success at the box-office. Suhasini, who was introduced as an actress by Mahendran in Nenjathai Killathey was assistant cinematographer to Ashok Kumar in Nandu.

Kai Kodukkum Kai was Mahendran’s ninth directorial and his fifth collaboration with Rajinikanth. Although the film crossed 100 days at the box-office, Mahendran viewed the film as a commercial failure.

Mahendran’s last directorial was the 2006 Aravindswamy –Gauthami starrer, Sasanam. The film had moderate success but was chosen in 2009 to be screened at an international film festival in Atlanta.

In 2014 Mahendran announced another film with newcomers in the lead role that would have Illaiyaraja scoring the music. However, Mahendran’s health took a downturn and was never launched.

In 2004, Mahendran played his first major acting role in Balakrishnan’s biopic, Kamaraj. He went on to act in 10 films, including There, Petta and Boomerang. His role in Vijay’s Theri won for the IIFA Utsvam Award for Best Villain.

Mahendran passed away on 02 April 2019 at the age of 79. His influence on Tamil films remain, with Mani Ratnam’s style of filmmaking in his earlier films closely resembling Mahendran’s style.