j. mahendran (; 25 july 1939 – 2 april 2019) was an indian movie director, screenwriter and actor. he was active in tamil cinema. he was best known directing and writing the movies "mullum malarum" (1978), "uthiripookkal" (1979) and "nenjathai killathe" (1980). "nenjathai killathe" won the 1980 national film award for best feature film in tamil.