Peddi

"At just two films old, Buchi Babu Sana is truly his master's disciple. With the Ram Charan-starrer Peddi, Buchi asks the question of what happens to a man who isn't even given the dignity of any kind of identity in the first place."

"Ram Charan shines in a sports saga that blends grit, identity and social commentary"

"Director Buchi Babu Sana has made a highly ambitious attempt to give a commercial, content-driven film worthy of Ram Charan's star status."

"Despite noticeable logic gaps, underdeveloped romance, and uneven editing, the film succeeds where it matters most, emotionally."

"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."

"The problem isn't ambition. The problem is that Peddi wants Everything Everywhere All At Once! And no, that is not an Oscar-worthy effort! Ram Charan is the absolute life support system of Peddi, delivering an incredibly grounded, physically demanding performance, but the story does not do justice to his talent."

"Buchi Babu Sana comes into his second film with a genuinely interesting idea at its core, and Ram Charan makes the most of it. But at 189 minutes, Peddi carries too much weight in the wrong places, and not enough where it counts."

"This film is the perfect embodiment of what happens when too many cooks and too much masala spoil the broth. Peddi is a muddled sports drama that suffers from a mishmash of multiple genres thrown into one narrative, with an objectified Janhvi Kapoor inserted only for crowd-pleasing tactics. Only if the film knew how not to be distasteful and rescue an engrossing idea from a forgettable palimpsest, it could have worked."

"Despite a strong performance from Ram Charan and a touching climax, Peddi fails to realize its potential due to a weak screenplay, forced commercial elements, and lack of emotional engagement."

"Peddi buries its powerful story about caste identity and social inequality beneath hero worship, regressive romance and exhausting excesses. The screenplay is so obsessed with glorifying the hero's ruggedness that almost nobody else gets much room to shine, and the film's objectification of its female lead is increasingly uncomfortable to watch."