Sarja, who starred in 20 films including the popular "Amma I Love You," died of a heart attack, according to B.S. Yediyurappa, chief minister of Karnataka.
"It is shocking to hear the news that the famous Kannada artist, Shri Chiranjeevi Sarja, died of a heart attack. The premature death at only 39 years old is shocking. My prayers go out to the family, may God grant them give the strength to endure this sorrow, "Yediyurappa tweeted Sunday.
Sarja, who also starred in "Whistle" and "Varadanayaka", came from a family of actors. He is the nephew of Tamil actor Arjun Sarja and the grandson of veteran actor Shakti Prasad, according to the Hindustan Times. He married actress Meghana Raj in 2018.
After news of his death, many fans of Sarja began to post condolences on his latest Instagram post, which starred his brother, Dhruva Sarja, who is also a famous Kannada actor.
"A tragic loss for Indian cinema," commented a fan. "We miss you all."
A number of movie stars have also expressed their sadness on social media following the sudden death of Sarja.
"Shocked to hear about the disappearance of # chiranjevvisarja !!!" Actress Priyamani tweeted. "I can never forget his smiling face."
"Absolutely devastated to hear about the sudden disappearance of Chiranjeevi Sarja. I pray to Meghna and the whole family finds the strength to overcome this shock and this pain," tweeted actor Prithviraj Sukumaran.
CNN's Rishabh Madhavendra Pratap contributed to this report.
