Deepika Padukone speaks up after 'Kalki 2898 AD' exit
- By Web Desk -
- Sep 20, 2025
Bollywood A-lister Deepika Padukone finally broke her silence after being dropped from ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ sequel and ‘Spirit’ with Prabhas.
Months after her exit from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Prabhas-starrer ‘Spirit’, Deepika Padukone has also been dropped from the sequel of her last year’s release, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, confirmed the makers earlier this week.
In a statement on their X handle, production banner Vyjayanthi Movies announced that the female superstar ‘will not be a part of the upcoming sequel’. “After careful consideration, we have decided to part ways,” it read. “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.”
While the banner did not mention any reason behind her abrupt exit, Bollywood insiders suggest that it was due to Padukone’s ’25 per cent increase in her acting fee’ as compared to what she took home for the prequel.
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“Additionally, she insisted on limiting her daily shooting schedule to a 7-hour shift,” a tipster divulged. “The producers offered her the convenience of a luxury vanity for rest periods in exchange for longer working hours, but she declined. She wanted 5-star stays for her 25-person crew. There were just too many demands. This raised concerns among producers who questioned why they should bear additional costs beyond the actor’s fees.”
Meanwhile, other reports claimed that the ‘Pathaan’ star opted out of the project due to her role being cut short to a cameo in the sequel, which was originally planned around her character of SUM-80 (aka Sumathi).
Anyhow, out of the sci-fi epic, Padukone is now reunited with her close friend, first co-star and frequent collaborator Shah Rukh Khan, for his hotly anticipated action thriller ‘King’, as she prioritises ‘people over success’ at this point in her career.
Taking to her Instagram handle, she penned a heartfelt note for Khan, while taking a cryptic dig at the ‘Kalki’ makers. “The very first lesson he taught me almost 18 years ago, while filming Om Shanti Om, was that the experience of making a movie, and the people you make it with, matter far more than its success,” Padukone wrote. “I couldn’t agree more and have applied that learning to every decision I’ve made since. And that’s probably why we’re back making our 6th movie together?”
Notably, Siddharth Anand’s ‘King’ also stars SRK’s only daughter Suhana Khan, in her theatrical debut, along with Abhishek Bachchan, Rani Mukerji, Jackie Shroff, Raghav Juyal, Jaideep Ahlawat and Anil Kapoor.