The film had to fight again, and it won again.
In the first week of its theatrical run, the sports drama Peddi carried Ram Charan to a box office milestone he had never reached as a lead actor, crossing 271 crore rupees worldwide — a number that arrived not in triumph alone, but alongside a public reckoning over how its female characters were filmed and treated on screen. The director's apology and pledge to edit contested scenes did not slow the film's momentum, leaving the industry to sit with an uncomfortable truth: that commercial success and ethical accountability can occupy the same moment without resolving each other. It is an old tension in storytelling — between what audiences reward and what they demand — and Peddi has made it newly visible.
- By day seven, Peddi had crossed 271 crore rupees worldwide, quietly surpassing every film Ram Charan had previously led — a milestone that arrived before the controversy had fully settled.
- Specific scenes drew immediate and substantive backlash: a non-consensual kiss and camera angles critics said reduced Janhvi Kapoor's character to an object rather than a person.
- Director Buchi Babu Sana issued a public apology and committed to removing the disputed sequences from prints, an unusually direct acknowledgment that something had gone wrong.
- Despite the ethical storm, audiences kept buying tickets — and by the time the production team gathered in Hyderabad to mark 300 crore, the film had become both a commercial triumph and an open question.
- Actor Jagapathi Babu gave voice to the paradox at the celebration, noting that a viewer spending 300 rupees holds ultimate power — and that what a film reveals about its audience may matter more than any rupee total.
By its seventh day in theaters, Peddi had done something Ram Charan had never managed as a lead actor: it crossed 271.33 crore rupees worldwide, pulling in 7.55 crore on day seven alone across more than 7,500 screens. Domestically, net collections stood at 187.25 crore, with overseas markets adding nearly 49 crore more. The numbers were the kind that studios celebrate with precision.
The film carried additional weight beyond its box office arithmetic. Charan and Janhvi Kapoor's first on-screen pairing echoed an older symmetry — their parents, Chiranjeevi and the late Sridevi, had shared the screen together across multiple films a generation earlier. That historical resonance had built real anticipation.
What complicated the celebration was a backlash that arrived almost immediately after release. Viewers and critics pointed to scenes they felt objectified Kapoor's character — particularly a non-consensual kiss sequence and camera angles that drew sustained criticism. Director Buchi Babu Sana responded publicly, acknowledging the concerns and committing to edit the disputed material from theatrical prints.
And yet the film kept climbing. When collections crossed 300 crore, the team gathered in Hyderabad for a thank-you event. There, actor Jagapathi Babu offered the most honest accounting of the film's strange journey: Peddi had fought, won, then had to fight again — and won again. The rupee total, he suggested, was less important than what the film revealed about audience power. A person spending 300 rupees on a ticket, he said, holds the final authority.
It was a candid way of naming what Peddi had become — Ram Charan's biggest lead role at the box office, and at the same time, a case study in how Indian cinema is now being watched, questioned, and held to account, even as the tickets keep selling.
By the seventh day in theaters, Peddi had crossed a threshold that Ram Charan had never reached before in a film where he carried the lead. The sports drama, directed by Buchi Babu Sana, had accumulated 271.33 crore rupees worldwide—a figure that made it his highest-grossing vehicle as a protagonist, even as it arrived shadowed by controversy.
The numbers themselves told a straightforward story. On day seven alone, the film pulled in 7.55 crore rupees across 7,535 screens. Domestically, it had collected 222.53 crore in gross revenue, with 187.25 crore in net collections. Overseas markets contributed 48.80 crore to the total. These were substantial figures in Indian cinema, the kind that studios celebrate and trade analysts track with precision.
But the film's ascent had been complicated. Peddi arrived with an ensemble cast—Shiva Rajkumar, Janhvi Kapoor, Divyendu Sharma, and Jagapathi Babu alongside Charan—and the pairing of Charan and Kapoor marked their first on-screen collaboration, a detail that had generated considerable anticipation among audiences. There was historical resonance too: their parents, Chiranjeevi and the late Sridevi, had appeared together in multiple films decades earlier. The symmetry was not lost on viewers.
What complicated the celebration, however, was the storm that had erupted almost immediately after the film's release. Critics and viewers pointed to specific scenes and camera angles that they felt objectified Kapoor's character, Achiyamma. A non-consensual kiss sequence drew particular scrutiny. The backlash was swift and substantive enough that director Buchi Babu Sana issued a public statement acknowledging the concerns, asserting that disrespecting women was never the intention, and committing to removing the disputed material from theatrical prints.
Yet the film continued to accumulate audience and revenue. On Monday, as the collection figures climbed past 300 crore, the production team organized a thank-you event in Hyderabad. Charan, Sana, and the film's producers gathered to mark the milestone. At that gathering, actor Jagapathi Babu offered a reflection that captured something of the film's strange trajectory. He spoke of Peddi as something that had fought and struggled, won, then had to fight again—and won again. The specific rupee total, he suggested, mattered less than the film's impact, less than what it revealed about audience power and the vulnerability of the industry itself. A viewer spending 300 rupees on a ticket, he noted, held the ultimate authority over a film's fate.
It was a candid acknowledgment that box office success and ethical reckoning were not the same thing, and that a film could achieve one while grappling with the other. Peddi had become Ram Charan's biggest lead role at the box office. It had also become a case study in how Indian cinema was being watched, questioned, and held accountable—even as audiences continued to buy tickets.
Citas Notables
Peddi fought, struggled, and won. Even after winning and after the film was released, it had to fight again, and it won again.— Jagapathi Babu, actor
It was never their intention to disrespect women and confirmed that the production team would actively modify and edit out the controversial portions in theatres.— Director Buchi Babu Sana, in response to objectification criticism
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
How does a film become someone's highest-grossing lead role while simultaneously facing accusations of objectifying its female lead?
Because audiences are not monolithic. Some came for the sports drama, some for the ensemble cast, some out of curiosity. The controversy didn't erase the film's appeal for many viewers—it just meant the film had to carry two conversations at once.
But the director apologized and promised to edit the film. Doesn't that suggest the criticism had weight?
It does. Buchi Babu Sana's response was an acknowledgment that the concern was legitimate. But an apology and an edit don't retroactively change what was already in theaters. The film kept earning money even as those edits were being made.
Jagapathi Babu said the specific rupee total didn't matter. What did he mean by that?
He was pointing at something deeper—that the real story isn't just the number. It's what the number reveals about who decides what gets made, what gets watched, and what gets questioned. The audience's power to both support and critique a film simultaneously.
So this is a win for Ram Charan, but a complicated one?
It's a win that comes with conditions. The film succeeded despite—or perhaps because of—the scrutiny. That's not the same as succeeding cleanly.