Over a year after Deepika Padukone’s controversial exit from Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit made headlines, now the latter’s brother and collaborator Pranay Reddy Vanga has shared fresh details about the discussions surrounding the film.

It was previously reported that Deepika’s ask for an eight-hour workday had been a bone of contention between her and director Sandeep. Pranay, however, now claims that money and profit-sharing were also something the parties couldn’t agree upon.

"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," Pranay said in an interview with NTV.

He said that Deepika’s recent box-office success had strengthened her position during negotiations. He said that she demanded a profit share which was not financially feasible to the producers.

"She demanded 10 per cent of 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,” he said. Pranay then claimed that when they started looking out for other actors apart from Deepika, her team started leaking information about the film. “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 said.

He also clarified that, according to his version of events, the disagreement was not merely about an additional Rs 5-6 crore being sought as remuneration.

Deepika exited Spirit last May and was ultimately replaced by Triptii Dimri. After that some reports started surfacing that the film has an ‘A-Rated Action’ twist. So far, Sandeep and team had maintained that it was a cop action-thriller. There was no official mention of the rating that they were aiming for.

This irked Sandeep, who took to X to express his anger and frustration with the alleged leak of his film’s plot.

“When I narrate a story to an actor, I place 100% faith. There is an unsaid NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement) between us. But by doing this, You’ve ‘DISCLOSED’ the person that you are… Putting down a Younger actor and ousting my story? Is this what your feminism stands for ? As a filmmaker, I put years of hard work behind my craft & for me, filmmaking is everything. You didn’t get it. You won’t get it. You will never get it. “Aisa karo…. Agli baar poori kahani bolna… kyunki mujhe jarra bhi farak nahi padtha (Next time, tell them the complete story because I don’t really care.)” he wrote. He concluded his post with, “I like this kahawath very much: Khundak mein billi khamba noche. (The angry cat scratches the pillar).” His note was accompanied by the hashtag, “Dirty PR Games”.

The discussion then became about Deepika’s demand for fixed 8-hour work shift not being accepted by the makers and that is what led to her exit. Deepika spoke about the wider discussion around her working conditions, although she did not address every claim linked to her departure from Spirit.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 in 2025, the actor had said, "I am someone who has always fought my battles silently, and for some strange reason, sometimes they become public-which is not the way I know and not the way I've been brought up. To fight my battles silently and in a dignified way is the way I know."

In an earlier conversation with Brut India, Deepika defended her reported request for an eight-hour shift and said she did not consider it unreasonable.

"I don't think what I am asking for is ridiculously unfair and I think only someone who has worked in the system enough will know the conditions that we work in. And I am saying this, if I may say so myself, a top star, so you can only imagine what the working conditions must be like for everyone else, for the crew, for example," she said.

She also pointed out that similar working hours have been followed by male actors.

"I am not the first one who has asked for something like this. In fact, there are a lot of actors, male actors, who have been working on a 8-hour shift for years and it's never made headlines," she said.

Spirit, directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga and starring Prabhas and Triptii Dimri, is scheduled to release in March 2027.