Rajini, Suhasini, Suresh Krissna pay last respects to Sarath Babu

CHENNAI: Several people from the film fraternity paid their last respects to actor Sarath Babu, who died on Monday, at his Chennai residence.

The 71-year-old actor breathed his last at Hyderabad after battling illness for some time. Stars and actors condoled his death and fondly recalled their professional and personal relationship with the thespian.

Actor Rajinikanth who paid his last respects to the actor in Chennai told ANI: “He (Sarath Babu) was a good man. I never saw him angry. All of his films were a very big hit. He was very affectionate towards me. I feel sad on his demise.” Rajinikanth and Sarath Babu acted together in films like ‘Annamalai’, ‘Muthu’ and 'Velaikkaran'.

Several others from the industry, including director Suresh Krissna, Suhasini Mani Ratnam, YG Mahendran, were seen paying their respects to the star.

In a career spanning nearly five decades, Sarath acted in about 250 films in his mother tongue Telugu, besides in Tamil and Kannada.

The actor with a soft voice was known for his memorable roles including in 'Nenjathai Killathey', another Mahendran gem.

The actor was undergoing treatment at a hospital and the end came on Monday afternoon following multiple organ failure, the hospital said.

The noted actor was admitted to the hospital on April 20 in critical condition with multi-organ failure because of multiple myeloma. He was under the care of a multidisciplinary team and succumbed to his illness in spite of the best resuscitative measures, it said in a release.

(With inputs from ANI and PTI)