page_title: J. Mahendran
hierarchical_section_title: J. Mahendran
caption_attribution_description: English: J Mahendran at Veena S Balachander Felicitation
context_page_description: J. Alexander, known professionally as Mahendran, was an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work in the Tamil film industry. Mahendran is regarded as one of the greatest film makers of Tamil cinema and has influenced several filmmakers of the generations followed.
  Mahendran entered the film industry as a screenwriter, writing scripts for nearly 26 films. He made an immediate impact with his first directional venture Mullum Malarum. Mahendran's next film Uthiripookkal, based on a short story written by Pudumaipithan, firmly established him as an important filmmaker in Tamil cinema. His Nenjathai Killathe won three National Film Awards including the award for the best regional film.
  He has also acted in films during the latter part of his film career, including Kamaraj, Theri, Mersal Nimir and Petta. Before his death, he was the head of the direction department of BOFTA Film Institute in Chennai.
context_section_description: J. Alexander (25 July 1939 – 2 April 2019), known professionally as Mahendran, was an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work in the Tamil film industry. Mahendran is regarded as one of the greatest film makers of Tamil cinema and has influenced several filmmakers of the generations followed.
  Mahendran entered the film industry as a screenwriter, writing scripts for nearly 26 films. He made an immediate impact with his first directional venture Mullum Malarum (1978). Mahendran's next film Uthiripookkal, based on a short story written by Pudumaipithan, firmly established him as an important filmmaker in Tamil cinema. His Nenjathai Killathe won three National Film Awards including the award for the best regional film. 
  He has also acted in films during the latter part of his film career, including Kamaraj (2004), Theri (2016), Mersal  Nimir (2018) and Petta (2019). Before his death, he was the head of the direction department of BOFTA Film Institute in Chennai.
caption: Mahendran in April 2016
exif: {"Image ImageDescription": "J Mahendran at Veena S Balachander Felicitation Photos", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "96", "Image YResolution": "96", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS6 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2017:07:15 20:25:07", "Image Artist": "Silverscreen Inc.", "Image Copyright": "Copyright \u00a9 2016 Silverscreen Media Inc. This image is protected under the United States and International Copyright laws and m", "Image ExifOffset": "404", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "554", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "3986", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1800", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "1200"}