The Vanga problem refuses to die: Deepika left but spirit of controversy lives on

Deepika Padukone left Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit more than a year ago. The film moved on. Triptii Dimri replaced her. Vanga moved ahead with Prabhas as his leading man. And yet Padukone is still at the centre of the discussion about the film - every time.

The latest chapter arrived last week when Pranay Reddy Vanga, Sandeep's brother and the producer of Spirit, claimed that Deepika, arguably the leading superstar of the country for years, had demanded 10 per cent of the film's profits, along with other conditions, and that these disagreements contributed to her exit. He also alleged that confidential details about the project were leaked.

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Deepika did not issue a statement. She did something far quieter - something she's been doing for over a year: sitting on the other side and just seeing all the drama unfold. She liked an Instagram post calling out the Vanga brothers and questioning why a woman asking for a profit share had become such a spectacle when male actors have been doing the same for years. The post called the episode a "full-blown male-ego crisis" and said, "A woman rejected a deal, and misogyny couldn't handle a woman's 'no'."

All of this needs to end. Yes. But let's ask the major question here: why Deepika's decision to walk away from a film has refused to remain a private professional decision.

First, it was the eight-hour shift

When Deepika's exit from Spirit became public in 2025, reports suggested that one of the sticking points was her request for an eight-hour workday, particularly after she became a mother. What followed was not just a discussion about scheduling. It became a referendum on whether an actor, specifically, a female actor and new mother, had any business asking for boundaries around her time.

The debate became so loud that Deepika eventually addressed it herself, though never mentioning Spirit. "By virtue of being a woman, if that's coming across as being pushy or whatever, then so be it," she said later in a interview with CNBC TV18.

Then came the question that exposed the double standard at the heart of the conversation: "But it is no secret that a lot of superstars, male superstars, in the Indian film industry, have been working for eight hours for years, and it's never made headlines."

She went further: "A lot of them only work for eight hours Monday to Friday. They do not work on weekends."

Her larger criticism was equally blunt: "While the Indian film industry is termed as an industry, we have never really worked like an industry."

So, why did a woman asking for a structured workday become a headline in itself? Why was the demand treated as entitlement rather than a negotiation? And why was the conversation about working hours so quickly transformed into a conversation about Deepika's attitude?

Then came the 'feminism' accusation

The controversy took another turn when reports suggested Deepika had reservations about intimate scenes in Spirit. Around the same time, Sandeep Reddy Vanga posted a message on social media that was widely interpreted as being aimed at her.

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"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...." he wrote.

Then came the line that made the post more pointed: "Putting down a Younger actor and ousting my story? Is this what your feminism stands for?"

A woman allegedly objecting to aspects of a film was not just an actor negotiating a project. Her feminism was being questioned, her professional conduct was being questioned and her decision to leave was being questioned. And now, more than a year later, another explanation has been added to the pile: the 10 per cent profit-share claim.

Now, it's the '10 per cent' story

Pranay Reddy Vanga, producer of Spirit and brother of Sandeep Reddy Vanga, has now offered his version of why Deepika left, claiming that she wanted 10 per cent of Spirit's profits. He said the issue was not simply an additional Rs 5-6 crore in remuneration, but a broader set of demands involving compensation, scheduling and other terms.

Wait. Let it sit with you. If an actor asks for a profit share, is that inherently outrageous? Is negotiation evidence of greed? And why does a female star asking for a percentage of profits become a story about her leaving a film, when profit-sharing is hardly an unheard-of arrangement for male stars (read almost all top heroes) in the industry?

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That was also the question raised by the post Deepika liked.

"Sandeep Reddy Vanga's brother Pranay claims Deepika Padukone asked for a 10% 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?" the post read. It is a fair question. Because the outrage seems to keep changing shape, while the woman at its centre remains the same.

And Deepika still isn't the one telling this story

There is another striking detail in all of this: Deepika has largely not publicly litigated the Spirit exit.

In fact, fresh reporting this week has offered yet another version of events. A source close to the actor told Hindustan Times that Deepika had met Vanga only once, that he arrived an hour late, and that she was never given a full narration of the film. The source claimed only a one-line idea was discussed, and that Deepika does not commit to projects without a full narration.

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So if Deepika was only given 'one-line narration', what "story" did she actually oust in the media as per Vanga?

That account is also significant because it complicates the image of an actor who walked away after a long, detailed negotiation over a film she had fully signed up for. The same report says Deepika "would never work with him," according to the source. But even that is another version of the story, another explanation arriving after the fact.

Why does this controversy refuse to die?

Deepika left Spirit. That should have been the end of the matter.

Instead, we got the eight-hour-workday debate. Then the allegations around creative differences and intimate scenes. Then Vanga's social media post. Then questions about professionalism and feminism. Now, 10 per cent of the profits and allegations of leaked information.

Every few months, a new detail appears, and every new detail invites another round of debate about Deepika. At what point does a professional disagreement just remain that: a professional disagreement?

If an actor and a filmmaker cannot agree on money, hours, creative terms or the working relationship itself, why must one side be publicly dissected until a sufficiently damning reason is found for her exit? And some may find it extremely uncomfortable, but let's just ask it anyway: would this entire saga have acquired the same afterlife if the actor in question were a man?

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Deepika herself raised that question months ago when she pointed out that male superstars working eight-hour days "never made headlines." Now, with the profit-share claim becoming the latest ammunition, that question feels even more relevant.

The Spirit controversy has outlived Deepika's association with Spirit. The film has found its new heroine. The production has moved on. The controversy hasn't.

Isn't that the real Vanga problem here? Not that Deepika left his film, but that a woman said no - to the hours, the terms, the project or whatever combination of those things ultimately made her walk away, and the industry (including his brother) still seems determined to explain why she was wrong to do it. Because there are a hundred ways to answer a question about Spirit and Deepika's exit from it, especially when you are someone associated with the project.

You could simply say, "You know, it's been discussed so much. Let's just move on." Or, "The film is currently under production, so let's encourage the new lead and wait for its release." Or even, "Whatever happened, happened in the past. It's better that everyone leaves it there."

Because asking a question could be someone's job, but nobody is bound to answer that question - a trick that most celebs use all the time, even when they have a lot to share.

Deepika may have left Spirit. But the spirit of the controversy, apparently, has no intention of leaving her alone.

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The views expressed in the opinion are those of the author.