Mythri Movie Makers and Vriddhi Cinemas’ Peddi (dubbed from the Telugu film of the same name; UA) is the story of a sportsman’s ultimate sacrifice to get his village an identity of its own.
Peddi (Ram Charan) is an extraordinary and passionate cricketer who works as a daily wage labourer. He lives in an obscure village which has no worthwhile connection with any city or village. People of his village have to travel on foot for hours together to reach anywhere as trains do not halt in or even near his village. The village neither has a school nor a hospital. Peddi is disturbed by the fact that inhabitants of his village have to struggle so much in their daily lives. Although he plays cricket like a professional, he changes tracks and starts training in wrestling under Gournaidu (Shiva Rajkumar). Circumstances then force him to divert his energies to athletics. Why does Peddi keep changing his sport? What is his mission? Does he succeed in his mission?
Buchi Babu Sana has written an interesting story but it is too long-drawn to hold the interest of the Hindi film-going viewers. The screenplay, penned by Buchi Babu Sana, Vara Prasad Toleti, Krishna Hari, Chinthakindi Srinivas, Vema Reddy and Suneel Madhav, is entertaining in parts but it is also extremely boring at many places. The boredom creeps in because the writers go in to the depth of every incident, twist and turn. So many back stories have been explained in such great detail that the audience lose interest at many points in the drama, more so in the first half which may often become difficult to tolerate. But the interesting portions are those involving all the three sports which Peddi plays. The last about 20-30 minutes of the drama are not just engaging but also sometimes hair-raising. The victory speech of Peddi is excellent. Dialogues are very good.
Ram Charan shines in the title role. He breathes fire in action scenes and is extraordinary in all the three sports. His scenes of cricket, wrestling and athletics lend a lot of thrill. His dances are superb, grace dripping in each and every move. Janhvi Kapoor acts well in a role that gives her limited scope as Achiyamma. Jagapathi Babu leaves a fine mark as Appalasoori. Shiva Rajkumar lends dignity to his character of Gournaidu. Boman Irani leaves a mark. Divyendu Sharma is natural to the core in the role of Rambujji. Ravi Kishan stands his own as Sisodia. Rao Ramesh makes his presence felt. Upendra Limaye shines with a realistic performance. Prabhas Srinu, Viji Chandrasekhar, Rajatava Dutta, Satya, John Vijay, Ajay Ghosh, Aadukalam Naren, Tarak Ponnappa, Mahesh Achanta, Tinnu Anand, Sooraj Pops, Zakir Hussain and Rajesh Sharma provide lovely support. Shruti Haasan dances gracefully in a song-dance. Others are adequate.
Buchi Babu Sana’s direction is very good. His narration keeps the audience entertained but it must be added that the drama is too lengthy and, therefore, very boring at several points. A.R. Rahman’s music is fair. The Chikiri song is mass-appealing. Lyrics are alright. Song picturisations (by Bosco Martis and Jani Master) are excellent. The wrestling choreography (by Sham Kaushal) is superb. A.R. Rahman’s background music is impactful. R. Rathnavelu’s cinematography is superb. Action scenes (Maibam Nabakanta, Ram Lakshman, Supreme Sundar, Stunt Siva and Kevin Kumar) are very thrilling. Production designing (Avinash Kolla) and art direction (David Kumar Bapannapally) are of a fine standard. Naveen Nooli’s editing is crisp. Dibbing is lovely.
On the whole, although Peddi is good in parts, its business in Hindi will be below the mark because it is too lengthy and, therefore, very boring in parts.
Released on 4-6-’26 at Inox (6 shows; in daily 2 shows from 5-6-’26) and other cinemas of Bombay thru Jio Studios. Publicity & opening: ordinary. …….Also released all over. Opening was dull almost everywhere.
