Collections dropping into single digits by day seven
A film arrives with fanfare and departs into quieter waters — Peddi, the action sports drama starring Ram Charan, has gathered Rs 340 crore in its first week, yet the daily rhythm of its earnings tells a more sobering story. What began as a commercial triumph was complicated by a cultural reckoning: scenes depicting Janhvi Kapoor drew widespread criticism for objectification, prompting the director to acknowledge the misstep and remove the offending sequences. In the space between box office milestones and public accountability, Peddi occupies a familiar modern tension — the spectacle that succeeds and stumbles at once.
- Peddi opened with Rs 51 crore on day one across over 12,000 shows, signaling one of the bigger commercial launches in recent Telugu cinema.
- By day seven, daily collections had fallen into single digits — a steep and telling decline that no cumulative total can fully obscure.
- Scenes featuring Janhvi Kapoor ignited immediate backlash, with critics and audiences calling out the film's hypersexualization of its female lead.
- Director Buchi Babu Sana publicly acknowledged that certain shots had 'turned misleading' and confirmed the controversial sequences had been cut from the release.
- With no major competing star vehicles in theaters, Peddi holds the box office by default — a leadership position that feels more like an empty room than a conquest.
Seven days into its theatrical run, Peddi had crossed Rs 340 crore globally — a number that looked impressive until measured against the film's own trajectory. Ram Charan and Janhvi Kapoor's action sports drama had opened on a Thursday with genuine force, pulling in Rs 51 crore on its first day across more than 12,000 Indian shows. That peak would not be revisited.
The competition around Peddi — Varun Dhawan's Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, Bobby Deol's Bandar, and the Hollywood horror entry Obsession — offered little real resistance. In their absence of comparable star power, Peddi held the field. But holding an empty field is not the same as commanding one.
What complicated the commercial story was a cultural one. Certain scenes featuring Janhvi Kapoor drew sharp and sustained criticism for objectifying the female lead. The backlash reached the filmmakers quickly. Director Buchi Babu Sana responded in an interview, acknowledging that some shots had "turned misleading" during production. The sequences were removed. It was a rare and notable admission in an industry not always quick to course-correct.
The film itself carried considerable craft — AR Rahman's score, a supporting cast including Shiva Rajkumar, Jagapathi Babu, and Boman Irani, and a genre with proven commercial appeal in Telugu cinema. Yet by the second week, with daily earnings in single digits and word-of-mouth shaped partly by controversy, the question was no longer about dominance but endurance. Peddi would likely remain the week's leading film — but the distance between that title and its opening-day promise had grown considerably.
By the seventh day of its theatrical run, Peddi had accumulated Rs 340 crore in global box office collections, a figure that masked a steeper reality: the action sports drama's daily earnings had fallen into single digits, a sharp descent from its explosive opening. The film, starring Ram Charan and Janhvi Kapoor, had arrived in theaters on a Thursday with considerable momentum, collecting Rs 51 crore across 12,142 shows in India alone. That opening day represented the film's commercial peak.
The landscape around Peddi's release was crowded but not overwhelming. Varun Dhawan's Hai Jawani Toh Ishq Hona Hai, Bobby Deol's Bandar, and the Hollywood horror entry Obsession all competed for audience attention. Yet none of these films carried the star power or marketing machinery of a major vehicle. In that vacuum, Peddi held the box office, though its grip was loosening with each passing day.
What had begun as a straightforward commercial story became complicated by controversy. Certain scenes featuring Janhvi Kapoor drew sharp criticism from viewers and commentators who saw in them a pattern of objectification and hypersexualization of the female lead. The backlash was immediate and vocal enough to reach the filmmakers. Director Buchi Babu Sana, who helmed the project, responded by acknowledging the concern. In an interview with Screen, he explained that during production, some shots had "turned misleading" and that corrective measures had been taken. The controversial sequences were removed from the final cut.
The film itself was an ensemble effort. Beyond Ram Charan and Kapoor, the cast included Shiva Rajkumar, Jagapathi Babu, Divyenndu, and Boman Irani in supporting roles. The music had been composed by AR Rahman, lending the production a certain prestige. Directed by Buchi Babu Sana, Peddi positioned itself as an action sports drama—a genre that had shown commercial promise in Telugu cinema.
By day seven, the narrative had shifted from opening-weekend dominance to a question of staying power. The film had crossed a significant threshold in absolute numbers, but the velocity of its earnings told a different story. Collections dropping into single digits by the second week suggested that the initial audience had largely seen the film, and word-of-mouth—shaped partly by the controversy—was not driving sustained repeat viewings or new audiences into theaters. The absence of competing major releases meant Peddi would likely remain the box office leader, but leadership in a weakened market is a different proposition than the commanding opening it had enjoyed.
Citações Notáveis
In this process, a few shots turned misleading. We have taken corrective measures to remove them.— Director Buchi Babu Sana
A Conversa do Hearth Outra perspectiva sobre a história
A film crosses Rs 340 crore globally and we're calling it a success story, but the collections are already in single digits by day seven. What does that actually tell us?
It tells us the opening was front-loaded. That Rs 51 crore on day one was people rushing to see Ram Charan, the spectacle, the novelty. By day seven, that initial wave has passed. The film isn't holding audiences.
And the controversy over Janhvi Kapoor's scenes—did that accelerate the drop, or was it already going to fall this way?
That's harder to isolate. The director cut the scenes, which suggests he took the criticism seriously. But you can't unring a bell. People who heard about the objectification might have decided not to see it, or to wait. Others might have seen it specifically because of the controversy. The cuts came after opening day, so they didn't prevent the initial rush.
So the Rs 340 crore number—is that real success or just what happens when you have no real competition?
Both. In absolute terms, Rs 340 crore is substantial. But you're right that there's no major star vehicle competing. Peddi is winning by default as much as by merit. The real test would be how it performs against a film of equal scale and star power.
What does the director's apology actually accomplish at this point?
It's damage control, mostly. It signals that the filmmakers heard the criticism and took it seriously enough to edit the film. Whether that rebuilds trust or just acknowledges the problem—that depends on who's watching and what they believe about the intent behind those scenes in the first place.