'Deepika Padukone Was Pregnant': Saswata Chatterjee Recalls Pulling Her By Hair During Kalki 2898 AD Climax Shoot

Actor Saswata Chatterjee recently played a key role in Nag Ashwin's magnum opus, Kalki 2898 AD. He shared that when the film's climax was shot, in which he pulls actress Deepika Padukone by her hair and drags her around, she was already pregnant with her first child.

In an interview with News18, Saswata revealed that Deepika's husband, actor Ranveer Singh, was present on the set when the scene was shot. He added that he assured the Lootera actor that utmost care will be taken with respect to Deepika and their scenes, and that body doubles will be used where necessary.

In the climax scene, Saswata's character can be seen arriving in the hidden land of Shambala to capture Deepika's character, Sumathi. "There is a scene in the film where I drag her by the hair. It was part of the last leg of the shoot and was shot in Mumbai because Deepika was pregnant by then. There was a lot of physical tussle in the scene, so I told Ranveer, ‘Don’t worry, for more physically challenging scenes, there’s a body double.’ He was so polite and humble. He smiled and said, ‘I know, Dada'," Saswata recalled.

He also called Deepika "ever-smiling", and added that it was a delight shooting with her.

Kalki 2898 AD has shattered all records at the box office, and after one week of its release, the film has made a whopping Rs 414 crore in India alone. At the worldwide box office, the film has already crossed the Rs 700 mark, and with no major release this week, it is expected to enter the mammoth Rs 1000 crore club.

Kalki 2898 AD stars Prabhas, Deepika and Amitabh Bachchan in the lead roles, along with Kamal Haasan, Vijay Deverakonda, Saswata, Dulquer Salmaan, Mrunal Thakur and others playing pivotal parts. Nag Ashwin's dystopian drama draws its story from the Indian epic Mahabharata and Lord Krishna's prophecy about the birth of Kalki -- the 10th and final avatar of Vishnu.