Veteran South Indian actor Sarath Babu has been in the news of late owing to his health issues. The actor had been admitted to a hospital in Hyderabad and has been undergoing treatment for quite sometime now. In the midst of this, on Wednesday, May 3, social media was abuzz with reports that Sarath Babu had passed away. The hashtag #RIPSarathBabu began trending on social networking forums leading to a big confusion among fans and the film fraternity. However, the reports have since been brushed away as untrue by the actor's sister in an official statement. According to Sakshi TV, Sarath Babu is currently undergoing treatment for multi-organ damage. The actor's sister via his PR said about his health, "All the news about Sarath Babu on social media are coming wrong. Sarath Babu has recovered a bit and the room has been shifted. I hope that Sarath Babu will recover completely soon and talk to the media. My request is don't believe any news on social media." Tamil actor Sarathkumar too urged the people to not believe in the fake news on social media and wrote on Twitter, "The news about Sarath Babu Sir is false, please do not spread rumors, let us pray for his speedy recivery (sic)."
Born Satyam Babu Dixithulu, Sarath Babu began has his career in Telugu cinema in the Rama Rajyam (1973) and quickly garnered a name for his performances. Having won the prestigious Nandi Film Awards on nine occasions for best acting in supporting roles conferred by the Government of Andhra Pradesh , the actor also became famous for his appearances in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi languages. In Tamil, Sarath Babu gained a big fan following after starring in notable 'Superstar' Rajinikanth films like Mullum Malarum (1978), Ninaithale Inikkum (1979), Netrikkan (1981), Velaikaran (1987), Annamalai (1992), and Muthu (1995). Among his appearances alongside Rajinikanth, the actor is remembered fondly for his roles in films like Mullum Malarum, Annamalai and Muthu, which went on to become major box office blockbusters. Sarath Babu's last major screen appearance was earlier this year in the Tamil film, Vasantha Mullai, starring Bobby Simha in the lead role.