Tamil filmmaker J Mahendran dies at 79
Chennai: Veteran filmmaker J Mahendra, known for infusing realism in Tamil cinema and for giving superstar Rajinikanth his career breakthrough with "Mullum Malarum", died here on Tuesday at the age of 79.
The filmmaker passed away after a brief illness at his residence, a source close to the family said.
He was in the hospital for about a week for kidney related ailments and was discharged on Monday. His last rites will be held on later in the day at his suburban residence.
He is survived by son John who is also a film director.
Mahendran was introduced to the world of cinema as a critic while working as a sub-editor in a Tamil magazine during his student days.
He started his journey in the movies as a screenplay writer and made his directorial debut with 1978 film "Mullum Malarum", featuring Rajinikanth in the lead.
Later, Mahendran and Rajinikanth worked on films like "Kaali" and "Johnny".
The director's popularity peaked with his movies "Uthiri Pookkal" (1979) and "Nenjathai Killathey" (1980).
In the past few years, Mahendran had switched to acting. He played pivotal parts in "Kamaraj" (2004), "Petta" opposite Rajinikanth and Vijay's "Theri". He was last seen in Tamil film "Boomerang", which released on March 8.
Mahendran was also the founding member of Blue Ocean Film and Television Academy here.
Speaking to PTI, the filmmaker's long time associate and producer G Dhananjayan said Mahendra redefined the Tamil cinema at a time when it was dominated by the trend of delivering lengthy dialogues.
"He brought the touch of realism into Tamil cinema and it made people connect more to his movies. Mahendran is the forefather of realistic Tamil cinema," Dhananjayan added.
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Karnataka to witness heavy rain for next 10 days
Bengaluru: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast that the southwest monsoon will cause heavy rainfall likely this weekend and will drench Karnataka over the next 10 days.
The monsoon has begun retreating from northwestern India. Conditions remain active over the south, with an upper air trough extending up to 1.5 km over North Interior Karnataka and northern Tamil Nadu, combined with weakening monsoon winds across the peninsula, is driving the current spell. N. Puviarasan, head of the IMD’s meteorological centre in Bengaluru, said in a conversation with Deccan Herald, “As a result, the whole of Karnataka will see rain over the next week to 10 days."
With a cyclone in the Pacific Ocean along with a low-pressure system over the north Bay of Bengal, the monsoon is expected to intensify during the next four days. IMD has predicted heavy rains across South Interior Karnataka, including Bengaluru, throughout the weekend.
Bengaluru, recorded widespread moderate to heavy rainfall on Thursday. Between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm, Bengaluru city logged 45.9 mm of rain accompanied by thunderstorms. HAL airport registered 6 mm and the Bengaluru Urban automatic station recorded 47.5 mm. Doddathoguru, near Electronics City, reported 55 mm.
According to IMD forecast heavy rainfall will occur at isolated places in Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Yadgir, Koppal, Raichur, Ramanagara and Mandya districts in the next few days.
The southwest monsoon is now expected to extend until mid-October and with little or no break in between, the northeast monsoon is likely to follow immediately. These are expected to last until December. “There may be no break in between,” Puviarasan said.
