Quick take: In Peddi, Ram Charan towers above an honest story that works in parts.
When the trailer for Peddi made it evident that Ram Charan’s titular character is a crossover athlete, what was left to be seen in the film was how well the justification would be provided for his transition from cricket to wrestling and then to a third sport. Peddi’s superhuman capabilities can never be questioned. Right off the bat, his legendary status is established. The story itself is a hagiography of Peddi, narrated by a devotional villager in 2016 to a sports bureaucrat.
It’s 1990s Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh. A hamlet so peripheral that, as far as the government is concerned, it may as well not exist. The few hundreds living there have no option but to tend to themselves. Peddi’s peerless cricketing is the only metaphorical sixer they have seen in a generation. Otherwise, it’s a struggle for existence, compounded every single time they brave a treacherous pathway. Director Buchi Babu Sana sets up the premise fairly well.
Ram Charan plays an ‘Aata Coolie’, the sports equivalent of a freelance labourer, turning out for the highest bidder. While his team earns the identity of a victor, he remains without one of his own. Shiva Rajkumar, in a pivotal supporting turn as Gour Naidu, plays a compelling catalyst. The narrative develops a credible character arc for its multi-specialist protagonist.
While Tollywood has witnessed several sports dramas over the years, director Buchi Babu wanted to bring variety to Peddi by focusing on multiple sports. He uses sport as a backdrop to narrate a social drama that expounds identity, recognition and the development of a neglected hamlet.
As part of the director’s world-building, the entire first half plays like a typical masala entertainer, with introductions to Ram Charan, Janhvi Kapoor and their romantic angle. But Buchi Babu shifts focus toward emotional storytelling in the second half. The scenes involving Jagapathi Babu’s Appalasuri and Ram Charan’s wrestling training under Shiva Rajkumar’s mentorship are written with real effectiveness. If cricket dominates the first half, wrestling becomes the central theme of the second and this is where the film genuinely shines, with emotional depth and presentation that the earlier portions rarely match.
Peddi isn’t without its flaws. The film’s central theme could have been served far better. The rebellion of the nondescript villagers against the system was a potent premise in itself, but it gets diluted by a rivalry between Vizianagaram and Bobbili depicted in a stubbornly old-school manner. Many of the supporting characters are not only tedious but thinly written. The dialogue is heavy-duty, though that isn’t the biggest problem. It lacks the tension needed to make the viewer genuinely invested in where the plot is heading.
Janhvi Kapoor’s Achiyamma is likeable but the character design doesn’t do justice to her talents as a performer. Here, she’s restricted to romantic scenes, songs, dances and a brief political blitzkrieg, which isn’t really enough. There should have been more of Janhvi x Ram Charan akin to the yesteryear chemistry of Sridevi and Chiranjeevi. Even so, Janhvi looks beautiful and adds to the film’s glamour. Jagapathi Babu, by contrast, is impactful, while Rao Ramesh, Srikanth Iyengar and Hareesh Peredi are largely wasted. Divyenndu’s Rambujji is a textbook Telugu cinema feudal villain, salvaged almost entirely by the actor’s instincts. The special appearance by Shruti Haasan registers even less.
Technically, AR Rahman’s score is among the film’s stronger assets. It’s atmospheric and purposeful, even if the cricketing sequences are styled a touch too loudly for their own good. R Rathnavelu’s cinematography is impressive across both sporting and non-sporting portions. Avinash Kolla’s production design serves the first half well, though the jaggery mill and second-half locations, while functional, don’t quite match that early promise.
Ram Charan’s performance is the film’s unqualified high point. His portrayal of Peddi is weathered, deeply felt and completely authentic. It has the kind of physical and emotional commitment that registers not just in the scripted moments but in the quiet ones too. In the absence of the usual commercial scaffolding, it is his work that holds the film together and makes the climactic speech land with the force it deserves.
On the whole, Peddi is an honest effort from both actor and director, but it struggles under the weight of weak character arcs, an undercooked supporting cast and a central theme that never quite receives the treatment it deserves. Ram Charan, however, delivers the kind of performance that can elevate a career’s trajectory.
Also Read: The Massa Massa spirit: Ram Charan reinvents his physique for Peddi
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: filmfare.com
