Suriya on working with Friends director Siddique: For the first time..

The untimely demise of Malayalam filmmaker Siddique shook the entire entertainment industry on August 8. Expressing his grief, actor Suriya took to his social media handle to share a heartfelt note with his fans. He recalled the late filmmaker helped him become a confident actor.

3 things you need to know

• Malayalam director Siddique died after suffering a heart attack.
• Siddique's last rites took place on August 9.
• Suriya shared a long note extending his heartfelt condolences. 

Suriya pays tribute to Malayalam filmmaker Siddique

Suriya was devastated by the untimely death of senior filmmaker Siddique who gave him a break in the Indian cinema. He began his heartfelt note by recalling all the good times he had with the late director and wrote, "my heart is heavy." He further said that Siddique's death is an "irreplaceable" loss in the industry and extended his condolences to his family. 

(Suriya shares a long note expressing his grief on the passing of filmmaker Siddique | Image: Suriya/X)

He further mentioned his first film with the director and wrote, "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 the edit." He explained that it was the first time he looked forward to coming on a movie set. 

The actor recalled that the filmmaker was a polite and kind person and never raised his voice at anyone on the set. Suriya revealed that Siddique taught him how to enjoy the process of filmmaking and have a good laugh about it. He further expressed gratitude and thanked the filmmaker for giving him the confidence he needed and the strength he required. 

Suriya's previous collab with Siddique

Siddique made his debut as a director in the Tamil film industry with the movie titled Friends back in 2001. The movie featured Suriya and Thalapathy Vijay as the main leads. The movie was a blockbuster at the box office and gave Suriya his first breakthrough in the industry. His character as Chandru was loved by the audience.