Deepika Padukone Takes Indirect Jab At Spirit/Kalki 2 Row

The new mother ranked fourth in IMDb’s 25 Years of Indian Cinema report, featuring in 10 popular titles.

September 30, 2025: Bollywood diva Deepika Padukone has made a strong remark that seems to be about the recent controversy around her asking for an 8-hour workday and then leaving big projects like Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s Spirit and Vyjayanthi Movies’ Kalki 2898 AD sequel.

The actress spoke out soon after being in the IMDb study on 25 Years of Indian Cinema (2000–2025), where she was ranked fourth among actresses with the Most Popular Titles, appearing in 10 of the 130 films that were looked at.

Deepika Says, “Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions”

Deepika stressed her ambition to change what people expect from women in the industry after she was ranked higher than big names like Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, and Alia Bhatt on the IMDb list.

Deepika remarked, “When I started my journey, people often told me how a woman should or should not handle her career in order to be successful.” “I was never afraid to ask questions, make people angry, take the harder path, and challenge the status quo from the very beginning in order to change the mold we all have been told to fit into.”

The new mother, who just had her daughter Dua, said that the findings “further validates and strengthens my belief that honesty, authenticity, and resilience matter.”

Debate About Work Hours

After leaving two big projects, the actress has been the talk of the town in the industry lately:

Vyjayanthi Movies confirmed Deepika’s departure from the Kalki 2898 AD Sequel, saying that the film needs a “higher level of commitment” than they could find in a collaboration. Reports said that her requests included a 25% raise in pay and a 7-hour daily duty. The actress reportedly turned down offers of luxurious vanity vehicles for relaxation.

Spirit (Sandeep Reddy Vanga Film): Earlier rumors were that she left the film, which was supposed to star Prabhas, because she wanted to work 8 hours a day, get a cut of the film’s revenues, and wouldn’t speak her lines in Telugu.

The dispute grew when director Sandeep Reddy Vanga wrote a vague, harsh message on X that seemed to criticize the actress for supposedly “ousting” the script of his next movie and wondering whether her actions were in line with her “feminism.”

Even though there have been a lot of project exits lately, Deepika recently said she would be working with Shah Rukh Khan again in his next movie, King, which will also star Suhana Khan.