Deepika Padukone has seemingly responded to the latest claims surrounding her exit from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit. More than a year after she left the Prabhas-starrer, the actor liked an Instagram post criticising the Vanga brothers’ version of events, particularly the reported claim that she had sought a 10 per cent share in the film’s profits. Her social media activity came a day after producer Pranay Reddy Vanga spoke about the reasons behind the casting change.
The post, shared by journalist Janvi Manchanda, questioned the criticism around Deepika’s reported profit-share demand and drew a comparison with male actors who have negotiated similar arrangements in the past. Deepika’s like on the post has now brought the long-running controversy back into focus.
On Friday, Janvi shared a carousel on Instagram responding to Pranay’s comments. “Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s brother Pranay claims asked for a 10 per cent profit share of Spirit and I’m just wondering, did we forget male actors have been doing this for years? Why is a woman doing the same NEWS? (sic)” she wrote in the caption.
One of the slides questioned the reaction to a woman negotiating a profit-sharing deal, arguing that such demands have been made by male actors in the industry without attracting the same scrutiny. Deepika liked the post, appearing to signal her support for the argument being made.
See the screenshot here:
Spirit producer claims Deepika’s demands led to her removal
The development came shortly after Pranay Reddy Vanga, brother of director Sandeep Reddy Vanga, discussed in an interview with NTV Telugu. According to him, remuneration and scheduling were among the reasons for the disagreement, while he also claimed that Deepika had sought a 10 per cent share of the film’s profits.
“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. Once we started looking for other options, they started leaking everything,” Pranay said.
Pranay also claimed that the disagreement was not simply about an additional Rs 5–6 crore in remuneration. His comments have offered a fresh version of the circumstances that led to Deepika’s departure, although the actor has not publicly addressed each of the claims made about her exit.
All about the Deepika-Sandeep Vanga row
Deepika’s departure from Spirit became a talking point last year after reports suggested that she had sought a fixed eight-hour workday. At the time, the actor had defended the demand, saying that she did not consider it unreasonable and pointing out that several male actors had worked eight-hour shifts without similar demands becoming a major talking point.
After Deepika’s exit, as her replacement opposite . The casting change was followed by speculation about the reasons for her departure, including reports concerning the film’s intimate scenes and her working conditions.
Sandeep Reddy Vanga later appeared to address the controversy in a post on X, referring to an alleged leak of information about the film. Without naming Deepika, he wrote about the trust between a filmmaker and actor and questioned, “Is this what your feminism stands for?” He also used the hashtag “Dirty PR Games”.
Deepika, meanwhile, has previously said that she prefers to handle disagreements privately. In a 2025 interview, she said that she had always fought her battles silently and that, for reasons beyond her control, some of those matters eventually became public.
Spirit, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and starring Prabhas, Triptii Dimri and Vivek Oberoi, is scheduled to release on March 5, 2027.