Deepika’s exit and the reported reasons around it had generated significant buzz at the time, and the issue came into the limelight this week once again after director Vanga’s brother claimed the real reason for Deepika’s exit was the production’s refusal to heed her 10% profit share demand. It has been over a year since Deepika Padukone walked out of Sandeep Reddy Vanga ’s Spirit, but the controversy around it refuses to die down. Following this, a social media post called out the two Vanga brothers for their statements, and it drew support from Deepika herself.
Referring to Pranay Vanga’s recent statement, the post was captioned, “Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s brother Pranay claims Deepika Padukone asked for 10% profit share of Spirit and I’m just wondering, did we forget male actors have been doing this for years? The first slide read: “Breaking: Deepika Padukone Allegedly Wanted 10% Of Spirit’s Profits. The first look featuring her and Prabhas was launched on New Year’s Day 2026. The film also stars Vivek Oberoi in the lead role, and is slated to release on March 5, 2027.
But in a recent interview with NTV Telugu, Pranay Reddy Vanga said the exit was due to Deepika asking for 10% share in the film’s profits. Why is a woman doing the same NEWS? In the post, Janvi called out the double standard of admonishing a woman for just asking for what has become the norm for men in the industry. Judging by the meltdown, you’d think she asked for the entire film and Vanga estate. Sounds like we have a full-blown male-ego crisis on our hands. “The reason is the same as what was already mentioned. One was remuneration, the second was timing. Apart from that, there are some other reasons too. Soon after, everything went overboard. See, she can ask for anything. If we are willing to give, we can give. But the economics [budget] should also work out for us. We thought that it was not working. This is why we thought of other options. Triptii eventually did replace Deepika in the film. Deepika, meanwhile, has two big films lined up. She will be seen next in King with Shah Rukh Khan. Deepika is also slated to star alongside Atlee’s Raaka, opposite Allu Arjun.
A woman rejected a deal, and misogyny couldn’t handle a woman’s “no.”” Deepika had left Spirit last year, with reports claiming she could not come to terms with the production’s demands, and had insisted on an 8-hour workday for her as a new mother. Once we started looking for other options, they started leaking everything,” Pranay said. On Friday, journalist Janvi Manchanda shared a long note in the form of a carousel post on Instagram.
