Suriya: Siddique sir's demise is an irreplaceable loss

As the film industry grieves the untimely demise of well-known director-screenwriter Siddique, actor Suriya condoles the loss by penning a note on his social media handle. 

Suriya collaborated with Siddique for the 2001 film Friends. This film turned out to be a massive triumph and is still recognized as one of the early significant accomplishments in Suriya's career.

In the note, Suriya acknowledges Friends as important in his career and remembers Siddique as an encouraging director, " Friends was an important film for me in many ways. Siddique Sir was inherently an encouraging man who would compliment actors even if we did a small improvement to the scene. He would convey his observations on my performance with a lot of unconditional love, both during the shoot and at edit."

On further pointing out Siddique's influence in his life, Suriya noted, "For the first time, I looked forward to being on a film set! He taught me to enjoy the process of filmmaking, have a good laugh, and to not take myself seriously."

Suriya further mentioned that Siddique was a calm and content man during the shooting of Friends, "Siddique Sir was a senior and much applauded director when he made Friends, but he would treat all of us as equals during shoot with his friendly approach. I've never seen him angry or raise his voice on set. Working with him is an experience I will cherish forever. He gave me something I didn't have before I met him - the inner confidence to believe in myself and my talent."

Suriya concluded the note by thanking Siddique for trusting him in his formative years and conveyed condoles to Siddique's family and friends," Years later, wherever we met, he would enquire about my family and my happiness with much attention to what I was sharing with him. Thank you Siddique Sir for your faith, belief and trust in me during my formative years as an actor. I will miss you a whole lot. I pray for your family and friends to find their peace with bearing the physical loss of not having you around. However, the memories and love you've given us, will carry us through our journey ahead. Respects and Prayers,

The filmmaker had been undergoing treatment at a private hospital for three weeks and suffered a heart attack on Sunday. He was 63.