Actor Sarath Babu died on Monday after taking treatment for multi-organ damage, leaving the film industry with grimness. While several from the film industries condoled the actor’s death, actor Rajinikanth took so social media to pay his respects.

“Today, I lost a very close friend of mine, a wonderful human being Sarath Babu. It is an irreparable loss. May his soul rest in peace,” Rajinikanth wrote on Twitter.  

Notably, the actors have worked in several iconic films like Muthu, Annamalai, Mullum Malarum, among others. Rajinikanth and Sarath Babu portrayed friends from different economic background in Annamalai and Muthu, which went on to become one of the best portrayals of male camaraderie onscreen in Tamil cinema. Rajinikanth’s monologue challenging Sarath Babu’s Ashok from Annamalai, turned out to be one of the landmark dialogues of Tamil cinema where the duo essayed friends-turned-foes.

Sarath Babu, who made his debut in a Telugu film, Rama Rajyam, in 1973, became famous for his work in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi films. Sarath Babu has bagged Nandi awards nine times for best acting in supporting roles.