It has been my childhood dream to collaborate with AR Rahman
In Hyderabad on a Saturday night, a childhood dream found its stage: Ram Charan stood beside AR Rahman at Ramoji Film City, not merely as a celebrity guest but as the fulfillment of a long-carried wish — to create something lasting with the composer who has shaped the sound of Indian cinema for decades. The occasion was a concert, but beneath it ran a deeper current, the kind that flows when art, ambition, and the right moment finally converge. With 'Peddi' approaching its March release, the evening announced that this film carries the weight of genuine aspiration.
- A crowd at Ramoji Film City erupted when Ram Charan walked onstage — not for a cameo, but as the face of a film he has wanted to make his entire life.
- The debut of 'Chikiri,' the first single from 'Peddi,' turned a concert into a cultural event, giving audiences their first taste of Rahman's score for the rural action drama.
- Charan's onstage words were unscripted in feeling — a public acknowledgment that collaborating with Rahman was a dream he had carried since childhood, and the crowd heard the difference.
- Janhvi Kapoor, appearing alongside Charan for the first time as his co-lead, called the night a career milestone, signaling that 'Peddi' represents new territory for both actors.
- 'Peddi' is now in its final weeks of shooting, with a March 27, 2025 release locked in and an industry watching closely to see what Rahman's score does for a film already generating serious buzz.
Saturday night at Ramoji Film City became something more than a concert. When Ram Charan walked out into AR Rahman's Hyderabad show, the crowd's response reflected what the moment actually was — the public arrival of a collaboration years in the making. For Charan, working with the Oscar-winning composer had been a childhood dream, and 'Peddi,' a rural action drama still in its final weeks of production, is where that dream landed.
The evening's centerpiece was 'Chikiri,' the first single from the film, unveiled before a live audience as a preview of what Rahman has built for the soundtrack. Janhvi Kapoor, Charan's co-lead and first-time screen partner, stood beside him and described the night as a milestone she would carry forward. Director Buchi Babu Sana has shaped 'Peddi' as a grounded, rustic story — a departure from spectacle, rooted instead in action and drama drawn from rural India.
Rahman's involvement has moved the film into a different register of anticipation. His scores have a history of lifting films from good to essential, and the industry is watching. The concert was both celebration and strategy — by introducing 'Chikiri' months before the March 27, 2025 release, the team ensured that audiences would arrive at theaters already carrying the film's musical world inside them. What the night made clear was simpler than any promotional calculation: the people making this film believe in it, and that belief was audible.
Saturday night at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad, the air crackled with the kind of electricity that only happens when a long-held dream finally materializes on stage. Ram Charan walked out into AR Rahman's concert to a roar from the crowd—not as a guest star making a cameo, but as the lead of a film that represents something he'd wanted since childhood: a chance to work with the Oscar-winning composer.
The evening was billed as a concert, and it was, but it was also something else entirely. Rahman had filled the venue with his Telugu and Hindi classics, the songs that have defined Indian cinema for decades. But the real event was the unveiling of 'Chikiri,' the first single from 'Peddi,' the rural action drama that pairs Charan with Janhvi Kapoor for the first time. The song became the night's centerpiece—a preview of what Rahman has crafted for a film still in its final weeks of shooting.
When Charan took the stage, he didn't perform. He spoke. He told the audience what this moment meant to him, how working with Rahman had been a childhood dream, how grateful he was that it was happening for a film as significant as 'Peddi.' The applause that followed wasn't polite; it was the sound of a crowd recognizing something genuine. Kapoor, standing beside him, called the night a career milestone, a moment she would carry forward.
Director Buchi Babu Sana has positioned 'Peddi' as something different from what either actor has done before—a rustic story rooted in rural India, grounded in action and drama rather than spectacle. The pairing of Charan and Kapoor is itself a draw, but it's Rahman's involvement that has shifted the film into a different category of anticipation. His score for 'Peddi' is being watched closely by an industry that knows his work can elevate a film from good to essential.
The concert served a dual purpose: it was a celebration of the collaboration and a calculated introduction to the soundtrack that will accompany the film when it arrives on March 27, 2025. By the time 'Peddi' reaches theaters, audiences will already know 'Chikiri,' will have heard Rahman's voice in their heads, will have felt the texture of the film's musical world. The night at Ramoji Film City was both a gift to fans and a strategic move—a way of building momentum months before release.
What emerged from that evening was a sense that this film matters to the people making it. Charan got his dream. Rahman got a new collaborator in an actor he'd never worked with before. Kapoor got a moment she'll remember. And the audience got a glimpse of what's coming—a film that's been carefully constructed, thoughtfully scored, and is now ready to meet the world.
Notable Quotes
It has been my childhood dream to collaborate with AR Rahman, and I'm so happy it's happening for a film as special as Peddi— Ram Charan, at the Hyderabad concert
Called the evening a memorable moment in her career— Janhvi Kapoor
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
Why did this concert matter so much? It's just a performance, right?
It wasn't just a performance. It was the moment Charan finally worked with someone he'd wanted to work with since he was young. That's not small. And it was also the first real public unveiling of Rahman's score for the film.
So the concert was a marketing tool?
It was both. It was genuine emotion and strategic timing. They showed the audience what the film's music sounds like before the film arrives. That shapes how people will receive it.
Did Kapoor seem as invested in this as Charan?
She called it a career milestone. Whether that's the same depth of dream as Charan's, I don't know. But she was there, she was present, she acknowledged the significance.
What does this tell us about how Telugu cinema is being made now?
That it's willing to bring together major composers and actors across regions, that it's thinking about the entire experience of a film—not just the story, but the music, the rollout, the moment. 'Peddi' is being treated as an event.
And if the film itself doesn't live up to the hype?
Then the concert becomes a footnote. But right now, in November, with the film still in post-production, the hype is real and it's earned.