Deepika Padukone left Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit greater than a 12 months in the past. The movie moved on. Triptii Dimri changed her. Vanga moved forward with Prabhas as his main man. And but Padukone continues to be on the centre of the dialogue concerning the movie – each time.
The most recent chapter arrived final week when Pranay Reddy Vanga, Sandeep’s brother and the producer of Spirit, claimed that Deepika, arguably the main famous person of the nation for years, had demanded 10 per cent of the movie’s income, together with different situations, and that these disagreements contributed to her exit. He additionally alleged that confidential particulars concerning the mission had been leaked.
Deepika didn’t concern a press release. She did one thing far quieter – one thing she’s been doing for over a 12 months: sitting on the opposite aspect and simply seeing all of the drama unfold. She liked an Instagram post calling out the Vanga brothers and questioning why a lady asking for a revenue share had develop into such a spectacle when male actors have been doing the identical for years. The publish referred to as the episode a “full-blown male-ego disaster” and stated, “A lady rejected a deal, and misogyny could not deal with a lady’s ‘no’.”
All of this wants to finish. Sure. However let’s ask the foremost query right here: why Deepika’s choice to stroll away from a movie has refused to stay a non-public skilled choice.
First, it was the eight-hour shift
When Deepika’s exit from Spirit grew to become public in 2025, studies prompt that one of many sticking factors was her request for an eight-hour workday, significantly after she grew to become a mom. What adopted was not only a dialogue about scheduling. It grew to become a referendum on whether or not an actor, particularly, a feminine actor and new mom, had any enterprise asking for boundaries round her time.
The talk grew to become so loud that Deepika eventually addressed it herself, although by no means mentioning Spirit. “By advantage of being a lady, if that is coming throughout as being pushy or no matter, then so be it,” she stated later in a interview with CNBC TV18.
Then got here the query that uncovered the double customary on the coronary heart of the dialog: “However it’s no secret that numerous superstars, male superstars, within the Indian movie business, have been working for eight hours for years, and it is by no means made headlines.”
She went additional: “Plenty of them solely work for eight hours Monday to Friday. They don’t work on weekends.”
Her bigger criticism was equally blunt: “Whereas the Indian movie business is termed as an business, we have now by no means actually labored like an business.”
So, why did a lady asking for a structured workday develop into a headline in itself? Why was the demand handled as entitlement fairly than a negotiation? And why was the dialog about working hours so rapidly reworked right into a dialog about Deepika’s angle?
Then got here the ‘feminism’ accusation
The controversy took one other flip when studies prompt Deepika had reservations about intimate scenes in Spirit. Across the similar time, Sandeep Reddy Vanga posted a message on social media that was broadly interpreted as being geared toward her.
“Once I narrate a narrative to an actor, I place 100% religion. There’s an unsaid NDA (Non-Disclosure Settlement) between us. However by doing this, you have ‘DISCLOSED’ the individual that you’re….” he wrote.
Then got here the road that made the publish extra pointed: “Placing down a Youthful actor and ousting my story? Is that this what your feminism stands for?”
A lady allegedly objecting to points of a movie was not simply an actor negotiating a mission. Her feminism was being questioned, her skilled conduct was being questioned and her choice to go away was being questioned. And now, greater than a 12 months later, one other clarification has been added to the pile: the ten per cent profit-share declare.
Now, it is the ’10 per cent’ story
Pranay Reddy Vanga, producer of Spirit and brother of Sandeep Reddy Vanga, has now provided his version of why Deepika left, claiming that she wished 10 per cent of Spirit’s income. He stated the difficulty was not merely a further Rs 5-6 crore in remuneration, however a broader set of calls for involving compensation, scheduling and different phrases.
Wait. Let it sit with you. If an actor asks for a revenue share, is that inherently outrageous? Is negotiation proof of greed? And why does a feminine star asking for a proportion of income develop into a narrative about her leaving a movie, when profit-sharing is hardly an unheard-of association for male stars (learn nearly all high heroes) within the business?
That was additionally the query raised by the publish Deepika favored.
“Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s brother Pranay claims Deepika Padukone requested for a ten% revenue share of Spirit, and I am simply questioning, did we neglect male actors have been doing this for years? Why is a lady doing the identical NEWS?” the publish learn. It’s a honest query. As a result of the outrage appears to maintain altering form, whereas the girl at its centre stays the identical.
And Deepika nonetheless is not the one telling this story
There’s one other placing element in all of this: Deepika has largely not publicly litigated the Spirit exit.
In truth, recent reporting this week has provided yet one more model of occasions. A supply near the actor informed Hindustan Instances that Deepika had met Vanga only once, that he arrived an hour late, and that she was by no means given a full narration of the movie. The supply claimed solely a one-line concept was mentioned, and that Deepika doesn’t decide to tasks and not using a full narration.
So if Deepika was solely given ‘one-line narration’, what “story” did she really oust within the media as per Vanga?
That account can also be vital as a result of it complicates the picture of an actor who walked away after a protracted, detailed negotiation over a movie she had absolutely signed up for. The identical report says Deepika “would by no means work with him,” based on the supply. However even that’s one other model of the story, one other clarification arriving after the very fact.
Why does this controversy refuse to die?
Deepika left Spirit. That ought to have been the top of the matter.
As a substitute, we acquired the eight-hour-workday debate. Then the allegations round artistic variations and intimate scenes. Then Vanga’s social media publish. Then questions on professionalism and feminism. Now, 10 per cent of the income and allegations of leaked info.
Each few months, a brand new element seems, and each new element invitations one other spherical of debate about Deepika. At what level does knowledgeable disagreement simply stay that: knowledgeable disagreement?
If an actor and a filmmaker can not agree on cash, hours, artistic phrases or the working relationship itself, why should one aspect be publicly dissected till a sufficiently damning cause is discovered for her exit? And a few could discover it extraordinarily uncomfortable, however let’s simply ask it anyway: would this whole saga have acquired the identical afterlife if the actor in query had been a person?
Deepika herself raised that query months in the past when she identified that male superstars working eight-hour days “by no means made headlines.” Now, with the profit-share declare turning into the most recent ammunition, that query feels much more related.
The Spirit controversy has outlived Deepika’s affiliation with Spirit. The movie has discovered its new heroine. The manufacturing has moved on. The controversy hasn’t.
Is not that the actual Vanga drawback right here? Not that Deepika left his movie, however {that a} lady stated no – to the hours, the phrases, the mission or no matter mixture of these issues in the end made her stroll away, and the business (together with his brother) nonetheless appears decided to elucidate why she was fallacious to do it. As a result of there are 100 methods to reply a query about Spirit and Deepika’s exit from it, particularly if you end up somebody related to the mission.
You would merely say, “You already know, it has been mentioned a lot. Let’s simply transfer on.” Or, “The movie is at the moment beneath manufacturing, so let’s encourage the brand new lead and look forward to its launch.” And even, “No matter occurred, occurred up to now. It is higher that everybody leaves it there.”
As a result of asking a query could possibly be somebody’s job, however no one is certain to reply that query – a trick that almost all celebs use on a regular basis, even once they have quite a bit to share.
Deepika could have left Spirit. However the spirit of the controversy, apparently, has no intention of leaving her alone.
– Ends
The views expressed within the opinion are these of the writer.
