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Peddi is that rare film which manages to be ambitious and clueless at the same time. It wants to be a sports saga, a caste politics drama, a rustic village story, a railway station chronicle and a mass entertainer – all in one. The result is an overcooked, illogical khichdi that leaves you exhausted more than entertained.
Story: Sab Kuch, Par Kuch Bhi Nahi
Set in rural Andhra, Peddi follows a spirited villager who tries to unite his people through sport and pride. On paper, it sounds like a solid, emotional underdog story. On screen, it becomes a never‑ending circus of tracks that don’t gel with each other.
- Caste politics, cricket, wrestling, village feuds, railway station drama – everything is thrown in, nothing is fully explored.
- Logic goes for a toss as the screenplay jumps from one “big” moment to another with zero build-up.
- The emotional beats feel manufactured, as if the film is constantly screaming, “Clap here! Cry here!” instead of letting us feel anything organically.
By the time the climax arrives, you’re less invested in whether Peddi wins and more interested in when the end credits will finally roll.
Direction: Ambition Without Discipline
Director Buchi Babu Sana clearly wants to repeat the magic of intense, rooted storytelling with a strong social spine. But here, he drowns his own film in excess.
- The tone keeps swinging wildly between sincere drama and over-the-top masala.
- Every theme – identity, oppression, village pride, sports glory – is shouted from the rooftops instead of being woven in with subtlety.
- Key sequences feel staged more for “hero elevation” than narrative flow, making the film look like a showreel of moments rather than a cohesive story.
Peddi ends up as a case study in what happens when a director tries to stuff five films into one.
Ram Charan: Sincere Effort, Weak Foundation
If Peddi is even remotely watchable in parts, it is because of Ram Charan. He throws himself into the character with total commitment.
- His physical transformation, body language and rustic swag suit the role perfectly.
- He sells the emotional outbursts and quieter moments with conviction, even when the writing doesn’t support him.
- You can see the effort on screen – unfortunately, you can also see the screenplay constantly letting him down.
This is one of those performances where the actor does his job, but the film doesn’t do its job for the actor.
Janhvi Kapoor: Objectified And Wasted
Janhvi Kapoor deserved a far better role than what she gets here. On the surface, she’s the female lead; in reality, she’s reduced to aesthetic prop.
- Her character has negligible agency and barely impacts the story in any meaningful way.
- The camera’s obsession with her waist and navel turns her track into a textbook example of objectification.
- In a film that pretends to talk about dignity and identity, this treatment of its heroine feels tone-deaf and hypocritical.
Instead of giving her a strong, rooted character, the film uses her as visual garnish.
Music: Rahman On Auto‑Pilot
When you hear A.R. Rahman is composing, you automatically expect magic. Peddi’s album, sadly, never reaches those heights.
- The songs are serviceable at best, forgettable at worst – nothing lingers once you walk out.
- The background score tries to inject energy into key scenes but rarely lifts them to a higher emotional plane.
- For a sports drama, the music should’ve been the adrenaline shot; here, it barely registers.
Calling this Rahman’s weaker outing won’t be an exaggeration.
Verdict: 1.5 Stars – Energy Hai, Writing Nahi
Peddi is packed with sweat, noise and intention, but star power and scale can’t compensate for a fundamentally flawed script. With an illogical, overstuffed story, wasted heroine, underwhelming music and only Ram Charan’s sincerity holding things together in patches, Peddi stumbles far more than it soars.
Bollywoodwallah rating: 1.5 out of 5 stars –
Ram Charan runs his heart out, but the script trips at the starting line.
