Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone has lost another film. This time, it’s the sequel of her superhit film ‘Kalki 2898 AD’. On Thursday, the makers of the film took to their X, formerly Twitter, and shared a long note explaining the possible reasons behind her exit.
They wrote, “This is to officially announce that @deepikapadukone will not be a part of the upcoming sequel of #Kalki2898AD. After careful consideration, We have decided to part ways. Despite the long journey of making the first film, we were unable to find a partnership.
And a film like @Kalki2898AD deserves that commitment and much more. We wish her the best with her future works”. A lot has been said in the above statement without explicitly stating everything.
The line, “a film like @Kalki2898AD deserves that commitment and much more” points to a brewing and consistent pattern in line with the actress’ prior exit from another film. Does this imply that Deepika Padukone lacked commitment, which is why she is no longer part of the film?
'Kalki 2898 AD' marks her 2nd exit from a movie after she left ‘Spirit’, set to be helmed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga with Prabhas in the lead. It was alleged that the actress demanded an 8-hour shift owing to her motherhood, and to take care of her daughter Dua.
It was also reported in the media that her exit from ‘Spirit’ was due to disagreement over remuneration, contract amendments for days beyond a specified number, and terms related to profit sharing. After she walked out of the film, director Sandeep Reddy Vanga posted a statement on social media implying that Deepika breached trust by allegedly disclosing too much (leaking story elements or contract details), and criticised what he implied was “dirty PR games”, and putting down a younger actress (Deepika was replaced by ‘Animal’ sensation Triptii Dimri).
He posted an angry tweet, as he wrote, “When I narrate a story to an actor, I place 100% faith. There is an unsaid NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) between us. But by doing this, You’ve ‘DISCLOSED’ the person that you are…. Putting down a Younger actor and ousting my story? Is this what your feminism stands for?
As a filmmaker, I put years of hard work behind my craft & for me, filmmaking is everything. You didn’t get it. You won’t get it. You will never get it. Aisa karo…. Agli baar poori kahani bolna… kyunki mujhe jarra bhi farak nahi padtha (Do one thing, next time, reveal the entire story, because it doesn’t make the slightest difference to me)”.
Another possibility behind her exit could be the unrealistic demands put up by actors in terms of the logistics, and staff and entourage cost. However, no such claims have been explicitly made either by the producers of ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ or Vanga.
Some recent reports also suggested that a superstar couple has been troubling producers with their unreasonable demands. Many believe that the couple in question is Deepika Padukone and Ranveer Singh. This inference is based on producer and director Sanjay Gupta's interview with Cyrus, in which he revealed that a superstar couple had demanded 11 vanity vans.
He talso told an anecdote about a Bollywood actor being signed to a South Indian film, then showing up with six vans from Mumbai, leaving the producer with a bill of around Rs 18 lakh just for those entourage vehicles. Because the producer wasn’t informed beforehand, the film was scrapped.
The same issue was recently raised by Bollywood superstar Aamir Khan, as he said that the unrealistic demands of superstars burdens the producers, thereby increasing the risk for the film in the market drifting it towards making the film a loss making unit.