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The success of the Baahubali franchise started the pan-India movement in the Indian film industry, and everyone associated with the film benefitted from its success. But, with its success, came its share of controversies. One particular controversy that circled the film was late actor Sridevi’s refusal to play the role of Sivagami in the film. At the time, it was rumoured that Sridevi refused because her conditions were not being met, but now, her husband, producer Boney Kapoor, has revealed that the stories about her refusal were all made up by the producers.
Boney told Game Changers on their YouTube channel that the only reason why his wife wasn’t a part of Baahubali was because the producers didn’t want to pay her the right wage. He said, “The film (Baahubali) with Rajamouli didn’t happen, but I still have his text saying he was a fan of Sridevi as an actor, but after having a conversation with her, his respect for her had increased multifold. That was because of the inputs she gave. She didn’t work in that film because of the confusion that was created by the producers. Rajamouli had come to our place and had a conversation about the film. When he went out of the room, the producers offered her less money than she got for English Vinglish. She wasn’t a struggling actor; you’re getting mileage out of her, which includes some help in both Hindi and Tamil. Why would I want my wife to do that?”
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He added that producer Shobu Yarlagadda lied to SS Rajamouli about Sridevi’s remuneration. He said, “I think the producers never told Rajamouli about the offer they had made. They told him that she wants the entire floor of the hotel; she wants a certain entourage. The only thing we wanted was for the big shoots to be scheduled during the time when our children had holidays.”
He added, “These producers were the culprits who fed Rajamouli with wrong things. He said in an interview what all she wanted, and that is false. This Shobu guy was the one who did this, and maybe he didn’t want to part with that money. To say things like ‘She was being unprofessional’ is wrong. People like Rakesh Roshan, Yash Chopra, and Raghvendra Rao have all repeatedly worked with her. Why would they do that if she was unprofessional?”
The controversy regarding Sridevi’s supposed demands was all anyone could talk about when the two films came out. During an interview with ABN Telugu, Rajamouli had said that Sridevi had asked for an entire hotel floor to herself, Rs 10 crore, and 10 flight tickets. Sridevi soon expressed her disappointment over the comments and during an interview with a Telugu channel said, “I have been in the industry for about 50 years and acted in more than 300 films. Do you think I could have accomplished all of this by making such demands? People in the industry would have sent me packing if I was like that. But, when you hear such things about yourself, you really get hurt. I don’t know if the producer wrongly told Rajamouli that I made all these demands, or there could have been some miscommunication. I think it is not in good taste to speak on a public platform like this.” Rajamouli soon admitted in an interview with DNA that he “regrets” talking about Sridevi in such a manner and that he “shouldn’t have discussed such details on a public platform.”
Sridevi passed away in 2018 at 54.
