In a shocking turn of events, the makers of Kalki 2898 AD sequel announced that Deepika Padukone will not be part of the project anymore. This comes as a surprise as she was the main lead in Prabhas, Amitabh Bachchan, Kamal Haasan's project directed by Nag Ashwin.
Though creative differences are mentioned as the reason, sources reveal the other reasons. They said “Deepika had signed on for the film for a certain fees, and shot some portions already. Her team, upon feeling that she is irreplaceable after a point, asked for an increase in her fee, which is not justified considering she had already agreed to a certain sum. The makers tried negotiating with her for months, but there was no headway.”
Reports also came that she demanded higher fees. A source shared “demanded a 25 percent increment on the acting fees she was paid for the first part of the film”.
“That’s not all, she put her foot down on shooting for just 7 hours a day. Given that Kalki 2898 AD is a VFX heavy film, such short shoots was likely to shoot up the budget by a reasonable amount. The producers were willing to provide a luxury vanity to Deepika for rest, in return of longer shoot hours, but she refused. They also tried to negotiate finances, given that even Prabhas had not asked for an increment in fees,”
The source added “Deepika’s team is a big one with almost 25 people travelling with her on the sets. They demanded a five-star accommodation and reimbursement for food through the shoot for her entourage. Why should the producers pay for the stay and food of an actor, over and above the fees? This is an issue that a lot of Hindi producers also face.”
Some reports say Deepika gave dates to Allu Arjun-Atlee project clashing with the dates of Kalki 2898 AD sequel. Now the makers are planning to rope in either Kalyani Priyadarshan or Keerthy Suresh in the lead role.