J. Mahendran

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 filmmakers of Tamil cinema and has influenced numerous filmmakers writers and actors after him After entering the film industry as a screenwriter writing scripts for nearly 26 films including the widely influential Thangappathakkam 1974 he made an immediate impact with his first directional venture Mullum Malarum 1978 starring Rajinikanth Uthiripookkal 1979 Mahendrans next film was based on a short story written by Pudumaipithan and firmly established him as an important filmmaker in Tamil cinema His subsequent works such as Johnny 1980 and Nenjathai Killathe 1980 were acclaimed with the latter winning three National Film Awards including the award for the Best Regional Film