The war of words between Sandeep Reddy Vanga and Deepika Padukone over Spirit is a classic example of how Bollywood’s biggest egos can turn a movie into a battleground.
What was a promising project became a public spat with both sides trading barbs and their fan clubs adding fuel to the fire on social media.
Vanga for his bluntness and honesty approached Deepika twice for the lead role and told her she was his first choice.
Deepika declined initially when she announced she was pregnant, then agreed and said she loved the script. But within weeks of quitting the project for reasons ranging from long shooting schedules to language requirements and profit participation.
Some of her demands were valid but the sheer number and type of demands supposedly forced Vanga to replace her with Triptii Dimri. What’s disturbing is how the backlash didn’t stop at just the two actresses.
Triptii Dimri the new lead for the film got trolled by Deepika’s PR machine and online fan clubs and dragged into a controversy she never asked for. This isn’t new—Deepika’s PR tends to overshadow co-stars and dictate the narrative.
In the end Spirit will get crowds for Vanga’s direction and Prabhas’s stardom and not for the off-screen drama. For Triptii this can be a turning point.
But the episode leaves a bad taste and reminds us how Bollywood power games can drown out the art itself.
