Chennai, April 2 (IANS) Well-known Tamil filmmaker J. Mahendran, most popular for making some path-breaking films with superstar Rajinikanth, breathed his last here at his residence on Tuesday. He was 79.

According to his publicist, Mahendran had been critically ill and was undergoing treatment at Apollo hospital for over a week. On Monday night, he was brought back home.

"He passed away early this morning at his residence. He was brought home from hospital last evening after being treated for a week. The cremation services will take place this evening," the publicist told IANS.

--IANS hp/dc/in