Filmmaker Sandeep Reddy Vanga on Monday seemingly took a dig at actress Deepika Padukone for allegedly “ousting” the script of his upcoming film Spirit and “putting down a younger actor”, possibly alluding to Triptii Dimri.

The tweet comes days after Triptii replaced Deepika as the female lead for Spirit alongside Prabhas. Earlier, Deepika was set to play the female lead role. However, she was later removed from the cast due to disagreements over remuneration and alleged unprofessional behaviour, as per media reports.

“When I narrate a story to an actor, I place 100% faith. There is an unsaid NDA(Non Disclosure Agreement) between us. But by doing this, you've 'DISCLOSED' the person that you are...Putting down a younger actor and ousting my story? Is this what your feminism stands for? As a filmmaker, I put years of hard work behind my craft & for me, filmmaking is everything. You didn't get it. You won't get it. You will never get it,” the 43-year-old filmmaker wrote on X.

Seemingly calling Deepika’s exit “dirty PR games”, Vanga added, “Aisa karo.... Agli baar poori kahani bolna... kyunki mujhe jarra bhi farak nahi padtha. #dirtyPRgames.” He signed off with the proverb, “Khundak mein billee khamba noche.”

“Whom is he talking about? Deepika?” a fan asked in the comments section. “Deepika Padukone ko billi bol diya,” another X user commented, alluding to the proverb that Vanga mentioned in his tweet.

“Is it true that Deepika Padukone leaked the story?” asked another social media user. One of them took a dig at Deepika and said, “Imagine disrespecting someone’s years of effort because ur stardom couldn’t handle someone younger shining. That’s pure insecurity.”

A source close to the makers of Spirit had told Bollywood Hungama previously, “Sandeep Reddy Vanga got the shock of his life when Deepika Padukone refused to shoot for more than six hours a day for Spirit. That’s not all—the actress, via her agency, also began to demand amendments to the contract. Their main contention was simple: if the shoot extended beyond 100 days, Deepika would need to be paid extra for every single day beyond the agreed schedule.”

Spirit marks Prabhas and Triptii’s first collaboration. It is Triptii’s second collaboration with Vanga, producer Bhushan Kumar, and Pranay Reddy Vanga, after Animal.

Produced by T-Series and Bhadrakali Pictures, Spirit will reportedly feature Prabhas in the role of a fierce police officer. During the promotions for his 2023 film Animal, Vanga had revealed that the protagonist in Spirit comes from a middle-class background, as compared to Animal and Arjun Reddy, where the male leads belonged to wealthy families, as per IMDb.

Spirit is currently in its pre-production stage and will go on floors this year.