Veteran music director Ilayaraaja’s nephew Pavalar Mainthan fondly known as Joe has passed away. He was the son of the famous poet and musician Pavalar Varadarajan. It is known that music maestro Isaignani Ilaiyaraaja has three brothers, namely Gangai Amaren, Baskar and Pavalar Varadarajan. While Gangai Amaren's children Venkat Prabhu and Premji Amaren are well known, Pavalar Varadarajan's son Pavalar Maindhan. Joe had worked as assistant director with RV Udayakumar for over 15 years between 1990 to 2005. Starting with Urudhi Mozhi, Joe worked for RV Udayakumar in 8 films including Chinna Gounder starting Vijayakanth and Sukanya, Singaravelan which had Kamal Haasan and Khushboo, Ponnumani and Kizakku Vaasal which had Karthik till RV Udayakumar’s last Tamil film Karka Kasadara which marked the debut of Thalapathy Vijay’s cousin Vikranth. Many celebrities and friends of the director have expressed their deepest condolences to the family. 
 
Joe was supposed to make his directorial debut with a film titled Naalu Perum Romba Nallavanga starring Power Star Srinivasan and Yasin Disha. Unfortunately, he didn't complete the comedy-thriller which was his dream project. Speaking at the pooja function of Naalu Perum Romba Nallavanga, Joe in 2013 said - “My name is Joe, I am Ilayaraaja’s brother Pavalar Varadarajan’s son. I have worked as assistant director RV Udayakumar in 8 films starting from Urudhi Mozhi to Karka Kasadara. I have assisted him and have also worked as a dialogue writer for him. Naalu Perum Romba Nallavanga is my first directorial. The first schedule of the film took place in Andaman and we are planning to continue the shoot in Ramoji Rao film city in Hyderabad. Yuvan Shankar Raja is scoring music for this film. It will be full-on comedy film with Powerstar playing the main lead with three other young heroes.” This is probably the only speech he has given to the media. Unfortunately, he couldn’t complete the film which ran into trouble. The sudden demise of Joe has left the industry and the family members in shock. Popular film industry PRO Diamond Babu shared the news on social media. - “இசை ஞானி இளையராஜாவின் அண்ணன் பாவலரின் மகனும் என் நெடுநாள் நண்பருமான பாவலர் மைந்தன் என்கிற ஜோவின் மரணச் செய்தி உள்ளம் துடிக்க வைக்கிறது. இயக்குனர் ஆர் வி உதயாகுமாரின் உதவி இயக்குனர்கள் என்ற வகையில் ஜோ எனக்கு மூத்தவர். என் மேல் மரியாதையும் அன்பும் சரி பாதியாகக் கொண்டவர். மென்மையான குரல் , மெல்லிய கூச்சம் கொண்டவர் . எளிய குணத்தினர் . மனம் வலிக்கிறது. அஞ்சலி என்று சொல்வதோடு ஆறுதல் அடைய முடியவில்லை.”