Several celebrities including actor, directors and filmmakers from Kollywood paid their last respect to Balu Mahendra on Thursday afternoon.
Legendary filmmaker Mahendra passed away on 13 February at around 11 am in Chennai. He suffered a heart attack, breathed his last at Vijaya Hospital on Thursday.
His body has been kept at the acting school Cinema Pattarai, which was started by him, for fans, relatives and film industry members to pay their last respect to the ace filmmaker.
Bala, Mani Ratnam, Bharathiraja, Mahendran, Ram, Sasikumar, Samuthirakani, Y.Gee.Mahendra and Archana among others paid their last respect.
The current and previous batch students of the acting school were also present to pay homage to the director.
"This is the last time we get to do something for him," a student told The Times of India.
Mahendra has worked in various industries including Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi. The filmmaker has won five National Film Awards, three Filmfare Awards South and several other state awards.
Some of the notable and critically-acclaimed films of Mahendra include "Moodu Pani", "Moondram Pirai", "Marupadiyum", "Sankarabharanam", "Nireekshana", "Kokila", "Sathi Leelavathi" and "Sadma" among others.
As a mark of respect to Mahendra, the heads of Producers' Council, Film Directors' Union and FEFSI said that the industry would not work on Friday, TOI reported.
Mahendra will be cremated on Friday as per the Hindu customs, which is likely to be attended by several well-known personalities.
Check out the video of celebrities paying their last respect to Balu Mahendra here:
