Lately there has been much gloating in the press about Sridevi being the first choice for the role of Sivagami in Baahubali 2.
Sources very close to the Baahubali team are extremely miffed by this non-casting news being leaked into the press.
Says the source from Baahubali, “We respect Srideviji a lot. And yes, she was the first choice for Sivagami. This was very early in the project. But when we approached her, her husband Boney Kapoor quoted a staggering fee. Plus he wanted a share of the Baahubali’s profits. We immediately dropped the idea, though we were very keen on casting Srideviji. Later we came to know she did a Tamil film (Puli) where she was given the fee that her husband wanted.”
The source is happy Ramya Krishnan played the part. “We can’t imagine anyone else playing Sivagami. And we feel it is in very bad taste for an actor to talk about a role that he or she did not do. By doing so, the actor who did the role is belittled.”
