HT City has learnt that actor Deepika Padukone's exit from Kalki 2898AD's sequel has a possible Atlee connection.
Thursday morning brought forth a shock for all Deepika Padukone fans. The makers of Kalki 2898AD, Vyjayanthi Movies announced on social media that they have decided to remove her from the sequel. They mentioned in their tweet, "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."
Deepika Padukone in a still from Kalki2898AD
“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,” they added.
Now HT City has exclusively learnt the possible reason for the fallout. A source tells us that it was monetary reasons, “Deepika had signed on for the film for a certain fees, and shot some portions already. Her team, upon feeling that she is irreplaceable after a point, asked for an increase in her fee, which is not justified considering she had already agreed to a certain sum. The makers tried negotiating with her for months, but there was no headway.”
The sequel's shoot was planned for end of this year. However, we further learn that Deepika's dates were given to her film with filmmaker Atlee instead when the discussion with Kalki's makers fell through. Atlee's film too had a shoot planned around the same time.