Art director Sunil Babu passes away at 50

Sunil Babu also excelled as a production designer. He had worked for several big-budget flicks like Mahesh Babu’s Maharshi, Ghajini, and Urumi, besides Vijay’s Varisu.

As the news of Sunil Babu’s untimely death spread, actors, directors and technicians who worked with him flooded social media with their condolence messages.

Art director Sunil Babu. (Supplied)

Sunil Babu hailed from Pathanamthitta in Kerala and started his career as an assistant art director with acclaimed art director Sabu Cyril.

Owing to his keen observation skills, creativity, and industrious nature, he soon became an independent art director and created a niche for himself.

Though he initially started with the Malayalam language, his boundless talent and amiable nature took him places, making him one of the sought-after art directors by even Telugu, Tamil and Hindi filmmakers.

In a career spanning over two and half decades, he worked for stars like Vijay Mohan Lal, Amir Khan, Mammootty, Dulqher Salman, Salman Khan, and Mahesh Babu.

He shared a special bond with filmmakers like Santosh Sivan, Anjali Menon, Vamshi Paidipally, Hanu Raghavapudi, and Neeraj Pandey, with whom he delivered some memorable projects.

Sunil Babu also won the Kerala State Film Award in the best art director category. He is survived by his wife Prema and daughter Arya.

Deeply saddened to hear that #SunilBabu is no more… In your art, we will meet you again!

Heartfelt condolences to his family. pic.twitter.com/GCIoMsvy9D

— Vyjayanthi Movies (@VyjayanthiFilms) January 6, 2023

Heart broken 💔 Listening to This of Our
Art Director #Sunilbabu Sir

Such a lovely soul & Human
Put is heart To #Varisu film 🥹
felt so beautiful and warm every time I visited the house 🏡 Sets

Our Team #Varisu Will miss U sir 💔

May your Soul rest in peace https://t.co/MS0vysI1eQ

— thaman S (@MusicThaman) January 6, 2023

This is really heartbreaking and hard to digest! Can’t believe he’s no longer with us now. This shows, again, how life can be unfair and unpredictable. Rest in peace, #SunilBabu sir. The world will miss you. pic.twitter.com/lEeZg1Ps0l

— Hanu Raghavapudi (@hanurpudi) January 6, 2023

RIP SUNIL BABU
Loss of an exceptional technician, Production Designer, colleague, partner-in-crimes and friend.
(SPECIAL 26, M. S. DHONI, UNTITLED PROD)

Too many memories over the years and yet words fail today.
Your smile will stay around us forever dear. 🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/WH8TsbjuH8

— Neeraj Pandey (@neerajpofficial) January 6, 2023

#5YearsOfOopiri…. Will always cherish #Oopiri and the memories attached to it… Thank You @iamnagarjuna Sir, @Karthi_Offl Sir, @tamannaahspeaks @PVPCinema @GopiSundarOffl #PSVinod #SunilBabu@ahishor @HariRgv @abburiravi
for making ‘Oopiri’ memorable.. 🙂 pic.twitter.com/J2AElACtCy

— Vamshi Paidipally (@directorvamshi) March 25, 2021

Sad news #Varisu production designer #SunilBabu (50) passes away due to a cardiac arrest in Kochi. #SunilBabu a former associate of Sabu Cyril had worked as production designer in many big films in Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu & Hindi. #RIPSunilBabu pic.twitter.com/LWTqUfuaCr

— Sreedhar Pillai (@sri50) January 6, 2023