Pudathama enti malli? (Will we be born again?), asks Ram Charan’s character Peddi at various points in his new Telugu film directed by Buchi Babu Sana. More statement than question, the line underscores the protagonist’s belief that life comes only once and his determination to stop at nothing to achieve his goal. Buchi Babu frames Peddi’s struggle for his own identity and that of his people as a sports biopic, driven by Ram Charan’s performance, AR Rahman’s music and R. Rathnavelu’s evocative visuals.
The 189-minute film takes place in the 1990s. When a member of the Indian Olympic Association, played by Boman Irani, witnesses an extraordinary spectacle in and around Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh, he is drawn to Peddi’s story. At its core, the film focuses on the struggles of sugarcane field workers in the region. However, its narrative draws liberally from sports dramas in all languages, evoking everything from Sarpatta Parambarai to Chandu Champion and Bhaag.
Peddi starts off as a coolie who channels his prodigious batting talent into local cricket matches, mainly for money. Each towering six, often sailing past neighboring grounds, fuels both the crowd’s frenzy and its own momentum. Ram Charan convincingly inhabits the rustic, combustible energy of a man for whom cricket is far from a gentleman’s game. Here, predators wait to hurt the hitters, and a worker must win not only the games but also the respect of those who wield power over him.
Peddi (Telugu)
Director: Buchi Babu Sana
Cast: Ram Charan, Janhvi Kapoor, Shiva Rajkumar, Jagapathi Babu
Duration: 189 minutes
Synopsis: Sports are the only hope of identity for a daily wager in a remote village. Can he win for himself and his people?
The two cricket matches, one during the day and the other at night, are gradually helping to unmask the deep social inequalities in the region. The story highlights the plight of Peddi village, an unnamed settlement with no road or rail connectivity, whose residents have no right to vote and must fend for themselves in life and death.
Buchi Babu Sana, who wrote the story, along with screenwriters Nagendra Kasi, Vara Prasad Toleti, Krushna Hari, Venkata Prasad Gandhi and Sri Raman Ch, unfolds this reality through images of laborers walking through the forests, interspersed with references to the absence of educational and healthcare facilities. A village elder, Appala Suri (Jagapathi Babu), campaigns tirelessly for the trains to stop in the village, but his efforts prove futile.
However, much of this material does not come with enough force to make us invest in the fate of the village. If these parts had been written and performed with greater emotional depth, Peddi’s struggle for his identity would have resonated much more powerfully.
Despite Jagapathi Babu’s earnest performance, Appala Suri’s arc remains emotionally distant, largely because the film falls back on familiar tropes that mainstream cinema has long used to depict rural plight. While several supporting actors seem convincing in their roles, a sense of déjà vu lingers throughout.
A romantic track involving Janhvi Kapoor as the daughter of a local politician further impedes the narrative. Take away the portions and little would change. The overt sexualization of the character, along with some of the dialogue and situations, seems crass. It is 2026 and Telugu cinema can do better.
Fortunately, the sports sequences get the film back on track. Rathnavelu and his team establish a compelling vintage visual aesthetic for the rustic sports drama, while Ram Charan excels as the carefree cricketer who later transforms into a purpose-driven fighter. Wrestling parts may briefly evoke memories of dangal either Sarpatta Parambaraibut thanks to Ram Charan and Shiva Rajkumar, the comparison does not persist.
This transformative phase also benefits greatly from AR Rahman’s score, which seamlessly transitions from the gripping energy of cricket matches to more emotionally resonant territory as the narrative evolves. Even when the envy, politics and power struggles in sports are familiar, Ram Charan and Rahman make the uneven stretches watchable.
The film also brings together actors from different industries in a bid to attract a pan-India audience. However, except for Shiva Rajkumar, few are given enough material to make a good impression, and their roles often border on caricature. The inconsistent lip sync is even more distracting.
In the later parts, the visual effects used to recreate the town and the train tracks dilute the realism of the story. On the other hand, the Delhi sequences, shot with film cameras, stand out for their rich and authentic texture.
Towards the end, a major plot twist functions more as a shock tactic than the culmination of a well-deserved character arc. Once again, the problem is in the writing. For viewers familiar with mainstream cinema, the reveal is also easy to anticipate. Buchi Babu Sana used a similar device in his first film. Uppenabut there it felt organic to the emotional beats of the story.
It’s also hard not to think about theRangasthalamstarring Ram Charan, in which Buchi Babu Sana was part of the writing team. That film established its social hierarchies much more clearly, making the audience deeply involved in the protagonist’s journey and rebellion. We hear a lot about inequality here, but rarely feel its weight.
And yet, if the film’s final sporting moments still manage to move us, much of the credit belongs to AR Rahman and Ram Charan. After Rangasthalam and RRRthis is another defining performance from the actor. Charan fully internalizes Peddi’s journey and makes every sporting triumph feel deserved.
If only peddy Had it matched its ambition with sharper writing, it could have been truly memorable. Instead, it remains a messy, uneven drama anchored by a committed lead performance and a stirring musical score.
Published – June 4, 2026 03:16 pm IST
