The Spirit fallout has erupted again, and this time the flashpoint is money. Pranay Reddy Vanga has alleged that Deepika Padukone asked for 10 percent of the film’s profits during talks for the Prabhas led project, a claim that has pushed the casting controversy back into the spotlight and reopened questions around one of the industry’s most closely watched departures.
In his recent interaction with NTV, Pranay said the disagreement was never just about scheduling. He described the negotiations as a larger breakdown over terms, one that ultimately made the makers step away as they weighed the film’s budget, structure, and long term viability.
Pranay Reddy Vanga’S Fresh Claim On Deepika’S Exit
Speaking about the fallout, Pranay said, “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.”
He added that Sandeep Reddy Vanga had been speaking to Deepika for around one and a half years and genuinely wanted her in the film. But according to him, the situation worsened when profit sharing entered the conversation. Pranay said, “She demanded 10 percent from the film’s profit. 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. Once we started looking for other options, they started leaking everything.”
He also made another serious allegation linked to the film’s internal narration process. “We discussed the story and character with her. Things discussed internally should not be revealed but she leaked all of them. That is why we are disturbed,” he said.
The remarks have put Spirit back at the centre of industry chatter, not just because of the allegation itself, but because the film was seen as a major pairing before Triptii Dimri came on board. That context matters for Deepika as well, since the exit is now being revisited against a phase in which she continues to headline some of the biggest mainstream titles in circulation.
Why The Spirit Fallout Still Carries Weight
Deepika’s recent run explains why the Spirit dispute continues to attract such intense attention. In 2024, she appeared in Fighter, Kalki 2898 AD, and Singham Again, a stretch that kept her firmly within the top tier of event casting. When an actor operating at that level exits a film mounted on the scale of Spirit, the conversation naturally moves beyond routine scheduling friction and into the politics of star negotiations.
That is also why Pranay’s comments land with added force right now. King remains among Deepika’s confirmed upcoming films, and her slate continues to place her in the middle of the biggest commercial conversations in Hindi cinema. With Spirit now moving ahead without her, his remarks have ensured that the story is no longer just about a recast, but about the competing expectations that shape high stakes casting deals at the top end of the business.
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