Peddi Review (3/5 Stars): Ram Charan Delivers, But the The Writers Need a POSH Workshop

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

If the South film industry had a corporate-style POSH policy for writers, half of them would probably be behind bars by now. Seriously, how do these people come up with some of this stuff?

I recently watched Ram Charan's Peddi, a sports drama set in the 1980s. The film takes a little inspiration from real-life stories, but the story itself is largely fictional.

The plot revolves around a village hidden in the hills that doesn't even exist in government records. Because of this, its residents work as daily wage labourers, face discrimination, are constantly exploited, and don't even have a proper route connecting them to the outside world. A train passes through the area, but it never stops there.

Ram Charan plays Peddi, a daily wage worker who also happens to be exceptionally talented in sports. His dream is to use sports to earn recognition for his village, restore dignity to its people, and secure something as basic as a railway station.

Now, as noble as all this sounds, the film itself isn't nearly that noble.

Story & Screenplay

Peddi falls for Janhvi Kapoor's character, and one of the first things he says about her is:

"I'll have to trap her. Her father won't agree to the marriage, and she won't agree out of love."

That's not exactly the romantic introduction you expect from a hero.

What's worse is that he doesn't even know what she looks like properly. The second time he goes looking for her, he recognises her by looking at her waist.

Yes. Her waist.

Then he gets his friends to cut the electricity, forcefully kisses her, and walks away.

Now some people will say, "But the film is set in the 1980s. Things were different back then."

Sure.

But you're showing it in 2026.

And it's not like any of this is necessary for the story.

In fact, Janhvi Kapoor herself doesn't feel necessary to the story. Her character seems to exist mainly for waist shots, navel shots, and cleavage shots.

Honestly, Bhojpuri cinema is better in this regard. They may be obsessed with the same things, but at least they're upfront about it. They don't pretend to be sophisticated while doing exactly the same thing.

The bigger problem is that the hero isn't just being immature—he's doing things that are borderline criminal. And the film repeatedly justifies those actions.

Meanwhile, when the villain, played by Divyenndu, attempts something similar, Ram Charan beats him up.

Sure, the villain's actions are far more extreme, but shouldn't the moral standards remain the same?

Especially for a hero you're presenting as a god-like figure to surrounding villages.

At this point, even the writers of cheap pulp magazines have better standards. At least in their stories, everything is consensual.

These writers first write nonsense and then spend the rest of the film trying to justify it.

Sometimes it genuinely feels like Indian politicians have taken up part-time jobs as South Indian screenwriters.

The funniest part is that Bollywood gets absolutely destroyed for writing things like this—and rightly so. But for some reason, when the South industry does it, everyone suddenly decides everything is fine.

Sports Drama

Now if you put aside the borderline sexual assault and its justification, the film actually has some entertaining elements.

Early in the movie, there's a sports meet where:

A cricketer says his favourite cricketer is Peddi.
A wrestler says his favourite wrestler is Peddi.
A runner says his favourite runner is Peddi.

At that point I was wondering:

"How many sports is this guy playing?"

For a moment I thought Ram Charan had secretly made a biopic on Baba Ram Rahim.

But no.

Peddi genuinely plays cricket, wrestling, and athletics.

Why he keeps switching sports, whether he manages to get a railway station for his village, and whether he succeeds in earning respect for his people are things you'll have to watch the film to find out.

Performances

Performance-wise, everyone does a good job.

Even Janhvi Kapoor does whatever she can with the material she's been given.

Although, to be fair, the director doesn't seem particularly interested in her acting.

I honestly feel her acting scenes were probably approved in the first take.

Meanwhile, the number of retakes spent on her body shots probably exceeds the combined retakes of the rest of the cast.

A special shoutout goes to Divyenndu, who plays the son of an MLA.

As always, he's excellent and brings genuine menace and presence to the role.

Music

The music is another weak spot.

Honestly, I'd rather listen to Tiger Shroff's "Paa" for five minutes than sit through some of these Hindi-dubbed songs.

I genuinely don't understand why they dub the songs.

Just leave them in the original language.

At least we'd be able to enjoy the vibe.

Pacing & Climax

The film starts slowly and takes its time to find momentum.

The first portion can feel a little boring.

However, once the film settles into its rhythm, it becomes genuinely engaging.

And the third act?

That's where the film completely redeems itself.

The climax is so strong that it almost makes you forget everything that came before it.

By the time the credits roll, you'll probably feel that your money was well spent despite all the flaws.

Verdict

Peddi is a strange film.

Its sports drama works.

Its performances work.

Its climax works brilliantly.

But its romance track is filled with outdated writing, questionable behaviour, and double standards that the film repeatedly tries to justify.

Whether those negatives bother you or not is entirely up to you.

In fact, some viewers might even consider the things I listed as negatives to be positives.

If you're one of those people, then run to the theatre faster than Peddi himself.

Because the makers clearly cast Janhvi Kapoor for you.

Final Rating: 3/5 Stars