Mahendran J was an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor in the Tamil movies. Mahendran entered the Tamil film industry as a screenwriter, writing scripts for nearly 26 movies like Naam Moovar, Sabash Thambi, Thirudi, Vazhvu En Pakkam. Mahendran made his first directional venture Mullum Malarum (1978) starring Rajinikanth and Sarath Babu.

Mahendran’s next movie Uthiripookkal, based on a short story written by Pudumaipithan, firmly established him as an important film maker in Tamil cinema industry. His directorial movie Nenjathai Killathe won three National Film Awards including the award for the best regional film. He has also acted in few major movies during the latter part of his film career, including Kamaraj (2004) and Theri (2016).

Mahendran was born on 25 July 1939 to Joseph Chelliah, a teacher and Manonmani. Mahendran died on 2 April 2019.