Mumbai: Bollywood star Deepika Padukone will not be returning for the sequel of Telugu blockbuster ‘Kalki 2898 AD’, the makers announced on Thursday, stressing that the project requires ‘commitment and much more’.
‘Vyjayanthi Movies’, which produced the Nag Ashwin-directed film, also starring Prabhas and Amitabh Bachchan, shared the news in a post on the social media platform ‘X’. The studio said the producers and the actor were unable to work out a collaboration for the project.
“This is to officially announce that @deepikapadukone will not be a part of the upcoming sequel of #Kalki2898AD. After careful consideration, we have decided to part ways. Despite the long journey of making the first film, we were unable to find a partnership. And a film like @Kalki2898AD deserves that commitment and much more. We wish her the best with her future works,” the studio said.
Deepika, 39, didn’t comment on her exit from the franchise.
Inspired by Hindu scriptures, ‘Kalki 2898 AD’ served as the first instalment in the planned ‘Kalki Cinematic Universe’ in 2024. The film, set in a dystopian world, follows a group of people who set out to save a woman pregnant with Lord Vishnu’s 10th and final avatar, Kalki, from an evil supreme god-king, Yaskin. It featured Deepika as Sumathi aka SUM-80, Prabhas as Bhairava/Karna, Bachchan as Ashwatthama and Kamal Haasan as Supreme Yaskin.
The film was released in June 2024 and earned over Rs 1000 crore at the global box office.
The development comes months after there were reports of Deepika’s exit from filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Spirit’, also headlined by Prabhas. However, there was never any official confirmation of Padukone’s involvement in the film. In May, there were several reports that claimed that Deepika had raised concerns about certain sequences in the film’s script and had requested an 8-hour workday. There were also differences related to her remuneration for the project. Her reported exit from ‘Spirit’ also led to a debate about flexible working hours for actors in the film industry.