Mumbai/IBNS: Bollywood superstar Deepika Padukone, who had opted out of Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Spirit controversially, has joined Atlee's AA22xA6.

The film already features Telugu superstar Allu Arjun.

The announcement was made by Atlee in an Instagram video where the director is seen busy discussing scripts with Deepika in a lavish living room.

"The Queen marches to conquer! Welcome onboard @deepikapadukone," the caption of the post reads.

AA22xA6, a Telugu film with a pan-India approach, will mark Deepika's maiden collaboration with Allu while a reunion with Atlee with whom she had worked in the 2023 blockbuster film, Jawan.

Deepika had played an extended cameo in Jawan, which was spearheaded by Shah Rukh Khan and Nayanthara.

(From L to R) Deepika Padukone and Atlee. Photo: Screen-grab/YouTube

On April 8, the makers had announced Allu as one of the leads in the film on the occasion of the actor's 43rd birthday.

Deepika-Vanga conflict over Spirit

Deepika, an A-lister in the Hindi film industry, had controversially opted out of Vanga's Spirit, which already features Prabhas in the lead.

The 39-year-old reportedly opted out of Spirit after some of her demands were not met by the makers.

As per reports, Deepika, who has embraced motherhood recently, refused to work beyond eight hours a day, charged a huge remuneration, demanded a profit-sharing clause and declined delivering dialogues in Telugu.

While a section of netizens lauded Deepika, some called her "unprofessional".

The controversy took an ugly turn when Vanga, whose Animal traded massive numbers in the box office in 2023, made a cryptic X post which netizens think was targeted at Deepika, who has been replaced by emerging B-Town star Triptii Dimri in Spirit.

In the post, Sandeep accused the unnamed person of breaching trust by leaking the film's storyline, playing dirty PR games and putting down young actress Triptii.

His exact words read, "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. Aisa karo.... Agli baar poori kahani bolna... kyunki mujhe jarra bhi farak nahi padtha. #dirtyPRgames I like this kahawath very much :-) खुंदक में बिल्ली खंबा नोचे !"