Shoojit Sircar Reacts To 'Piku' Deepika Padukone Getting Removed From Kalki Sequel, Spirit Over Working Hours Debate: I Respect...

Piku

director Shoojit Sircar weighed in to support his movie's female lead, Deepika Padukone in the ongoing debate around the 8-hour working mandate and the makers of Kalki 2898 AD announcing her departure from the film’s sequel citing 'commitment issues'. She was also replaced by Triptii Dimri in Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit. Sircar emphasised on 'respecting boundaries'.

Shoojir Sorcar on Deepika getting dropped from Spirit and Kalki Part 2

Speaking to DNA on the sidelines of attending a special session at FICCI Frames 2025 with Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, Ram Madhavani and Rahul Mitra to discuss Bollywood’s Narrative Reset with OTT, AI and other challenges, Sircar reacted to Deepika getting dropped from two pan-India films. "I respect every individual's subjective decisions for what they do. I respect what...I don't know what the whole story is all about," the filmmaker said.Deepika was removed from Spirit and Kalki Part 2 in the light of her demands, including limited-hours shifts. The Vicky Donor director opined, "That's fine, we should be respecting an individual's boundaries. So, uski poori respect karni chaiye. Main karta hoon."Reacting to her professionalism, Sircar shared, "Brilliant, she's just brilliant as a professional actor. She's brilliant."ALSO READ: Rani Mukerji Recalls Doing 6-7 Hour Shifts Amid Deepika Padukone Row: If Producer Is Okay With It...

Deepika's upcoming work

Deepika, who welcomed her first bron, daughter Dua with husband-actor Ranveer Singh in 2024, is currently shooting for King with Shah Rukh Khan and will begin working on Atlee’s film with Allu Arjun before the year ends.IMDb recently unveiled its special report, 25 Years of Indian Cinema (2000-2025), analysing the top five most popular Indian films released each year from January 2000 to August 2025. Deepika appeared in 10 out of 130 movies that featured in the list. The actress spoke about her journey in the film industry.Deepika said, “When I began my journey, I was often told how a woman must or is expected to navigate her career in order to be successful. However, from the very beginning, I was never afraid to ask questions, ruffle feathers, walk a more difficult path and challenge the status quo in order to reshape the mould we have all been expected to fit into.”