Y.G.MAHENDRAN ,
FILM COMEDY AND STAGE ACTOR TOO
BORN 1950 JANUARY 9
Yecha Gunja Mahendran (born 9 January 1950), popularly known as Y. G. Mahendran or Y. Gee. Mahendra, is an Indian dramatist, actor, singer, playwright and comedian from the state of Tamil Nadu. He has acted in a number of plays and films. He is the son of Y. G. Parthasarathy, regarded as one of the pioneers of modern Tamil drama and Rajalakshmi Parthasarathy, founder and dean of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan group of schools, and nephew of veteran Tamil filmmaker K. Balaji. Mahendra is also the cousin of Bollywood actress Vyjayanthimala[1] and the co-brother of Rajinikanth and Mohanlal.
Early life and family[edit source]
Y. G. Mahendran was born on 9 January 1950[2][3] to Yecha Gunja Parthasarathy and Yecha Gunja Rajalakshmi. Y.G.P. founded the United Amateur Artists (UAA), one of the first drama companies in Madras city, in the year 1952.[4] His drama company was a success and he emerged as one of the foremost dramatists of his era. Mahendra's mother Mrs. Rajalakshmi (also called Mrs. Y.G.P.) was the founder of the Padma Seshadri Group of Schools. Starting from modest beginnings in a thatched shed in the terrace of the Y.G.P. home in 1959 with a batch of eleven students as an act of social service for the members of the Nungambakkam Recreation Club the school has since emerged as one of the best schools in India.
Hailing from a family of stage-lovers, Mahendra soon developed a liking for drama from his early days. He played the part of comedian in school plays and earned acclaim. On completion of his schooling from Don Bosco Egmore, he studied Chemical Engineering at A.C.College of Technology, Univ. Madras, Guindy and MBA.[5] During his college days, he was touted as a prospective film actor. He was in his early teens when he joined his father's drama troupe, the United Amateur Artists (UAA). This gave him the desired break. His first few plays were huge successes attracting audiences by thousands. Mahendra's name had become one of the prominent names in the city. Eventually, he had to choose between acting and his career and he choose the former.
Y.G. Mahendran's daughter is married to actress Savitri's grandson.
Career[edit source]
In 1971, Mahendra was cast by veteran director K. Balachander in the latter's film Navagraham. The film was an average grosser. Mahendra was discovered to have a nasal accent which made him funny. He acted in a variety of roles in a number of movies – particularly as a dim witted fool of a cousin – generally eclipsing roles enjoyed by Cho Ramaswamy in the 1960s and 1970s.
Mahendra's career spans over four decades and involves more than 200 movies. He also acted in supporting roles with actors such as Sivaji Ganesan, Jaishankar, Kamal Haasan and his brother-in-law, Rajinikanth. He acted with Rajinikanth in films such as Pokkiri Raja, Paayum Puli, Shri Raghavendra and Veera and with Kamal Hassan in movies such as Apoorva Raagangal, Neeya, Guru, etc.
Business[edit source]
Y.Gee, thanks to his brother in law, also began a parallel career in industrial ceramics and had a flourishing company established in 1982 – by which period his acting career thinned down and he became more preoccupied with his business.
Y.Gee sold his ceramics business in 2001 for a whopping sum and has made a comeback into production and acting – his most recent role being in Yatchan.
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