# Deepika Padukone likes post shading Sandeep Reddy Vanga over Spirit exit 2026-08-23T03:31:13+00:00 | Entertainment | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 2 independent outlets Deepika Padukone has liked an Instagram post that criticises filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga over her exit from his film Spirit, reigniting a year-old dispute. The post, by journalist Janvi Manchanda, called out Vanga’s brother Pranay for claiming Deepika demanded a 10 per cent profit share, calling the uproar a ‘male-ego crisis’ and ‘misogyny’. Deepika’s like drew over 8,000 reactions in 12 hours by Saturday morning, mostly from supporters. The dispute began in 2024 when Deepika left the Prabhas-starrer Spirit, reportedly over demands for an eight-hour workday as a new mother. Pranay Vanga told NTV Telugu this week that Deepika also asked for 10 per cent of the film’s profits, which the production could not afford. Director Sandeep Reddy Vanga had earlier fumed on X that Deepika disclosed story details, while she has not commented publicly. Spirit, now starring Triptii Dimri in Deepika’s role, is scheduled for release on March 5, 2027. ## Indian Opinion Analysis Hindustan Times frames the story around Deepika's Instagram ‘like’ as a direct rebuke to Sandeep Reddy Vanga, devoting space to the social media post’s language (‘male-ego crisis’, ‘misogyny’) and to the actor’s history of disputes with directors. Greatandhra.com frames it as a resurgence of Bollywood media turning against Vanga, pointing to allegations of a Deepika PR-driven narrative without evidence. The HT piece gives the Vanga camp’s version third, and only in attributed quotes, the Greatandhra piece gives Vanga’s camp’s version first, then adds the media-turn criticism, then immediately says ‘no public evidence’ of a PR campaign. A careful reader should note both sides agree on the hard sequence: Deepika demanded 10% profit share, Pranay claimed it was not workable, she exited, Triptii replaced her. The stances diverge on what the fallout means: HT implies it is a gender-correct cultural battle, Greatandhra implies it is a media vendetta. The next concrete milestone is Romanchakam’s promotional cycle, which prompted Pranay’s comments, and Spirit’s scheduled release date, 5 March 2027. ## Coverage Coverage: 2 sources, 1 neutral, 1 sensationalist - hindustantimes.com (sensationalist) leads with Deepikau2019s social-media support for a post that calls Vanga u2018misogynyu2019, foregrounding a gender-politics angle - greatandhra.com (neutral report) starts by framing it as Bollywood media turning against Vanga, adding allegation of PR-driven narrative with caveat of no evidence This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above. Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources. Last updated 2026-08-23T23:51:36+00:00. Tags: Deepika Padukone, Prabhas, Sandeep Reddy Vanga, Spirit Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/deepika-padukone-likes-post-shading-sandeep-reddy-vanga-over-spirit-exit/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/deepika-padukone-likes-post-shading-sandeep-reddy-vanga-over-spirit-exit/#story-in-brief How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/