 Sarathkumar made his acting debut in 1986, in the Telugu film "Samajamlo Sthree" at the behest of a producer friend.Sarathkumar was originally cast to play the lead role in "Chinna Poove Mella Pesu" (1987) directed by Robert Asirwatham
and S. Rajasekar but the producers insisted on having one familiar face and he was replaced by actor Prabhu.In 1988, while running his travel agency in Chennai, Sarathkumar got an opportunity to act as well as produce in the Tamil film "Kan Simittum Neram".