Rajinikanth with J Mahendran's family (courtesy Twitter)
Highlights
- Rajinikanth and his wife Latha attended the last rites
- J Mahendran's last rites were held at his Chennai residence
- Kamal Haasan also met the late director's family
Megastars Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan paid their last respects to acclaimed south filmmaker J Mahendran, who died in Chennai on Tuesday. He was 79. J Mahendran directed Rajinikanth in his directorial debut Mullum Malarum and also in films such as Johnny and Kai Kodukkum Kai. J Mahendran is best known for introducing realism in Tamil cinema. Rajinikanth and his wife Latha attended the last rites of J Mahendran at his residence in Chennai on Tuesday evening. Rajinikanth met J Mahendran's family and was by their side during the last rites. Kamal Haasan was also one of the early celebrities to visit J Mahendran's family and attend the last rites. Photographs of celebrities pouring in at J Mahendran's last rites have been shared by several media persons, including Sreedhar Pillai.
Other celebrities who attended the last rites of J Mahendran include the likes of Karthik Subbaraj, Udhayanidhi Stalin, Ilaiyaraaja, Bobby Simha, Vijay Sethupathi, Vetri Maaran and others.
Actor Siddharth was amongst those who mourned J Mahendran's death on Twitter: "Director Mahendran sir will always be named whenever the greatest Tamil filmmakers are remembered," read a part of his tweet. Directors such as Pa Ranjith, A R Murugadoss, Lakshmy Ramakrishnan and others also remembered the veteran filmmaker in their tweets. Actress Varalaxmi Sarathkumar also mourned the late filmmaker in a heart-wrenching tweet: "Paid my last respects to Mahendran sir... you look peaceful... you will never be forgotten."
Arvind Swamy's 2004 film Saasanam remains J Mahendran's last film as a director. J Mahendran helmed 12 films during his outstanding career. He switched to acting in the later part of his career.
J Mahendran's publicist told news agency IANS that he had been critically ill and was undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital for over a week. He was brought back home on Monday night. "He died early this morning at his residence. He was brought home from the hospital last evening after being treated for a week. The cremation services will take place this evening," the publicist told IANS.