Peddi director shocked by criticism over Janhvi Kapoor's hypersexualisation
Director Buchi Babu Sana has said he did not expect the backlash over Peddi's scenes featuring Janhvi Kapoor's character. His remarks acknowledge wider criticism that the film's romance track normalised harassment and non-consent.
After facing criticism for the hypersexualised portrayal of Janhvi Kapoor’s character in Peddi, director Buchi Babu Sana said he was taken aback by the backlash. He admitted in an interview that he had not realised some scenes from the Ram Charan-starrer would be viewed as problematic.
The filmmaker said certain portions of the film failed to work as intended and that the response has prompted him to reassess his approach to writing female characters going forward.
In an interview with SCREEN, Buchi said, “I had not anticipated that the scenes would be perceived so negatively by audiences.” He added, “The idea was to showcase a playful romance story between Ram Charan and Janhvi Kapoor. However, we’ll be more careful and make better representations.” The criticism was directed largely at the film’s romance track involving Kapoor’s character, Achiyyamma.
Peddi is a sports drama set in the Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh and is built around nameless villages and their fight for identity and recognition. Ram Charan plays Peddi, a cricketer-for-hire from one of these unnamed settlements, and his journey forms the emotional core of the film. By most accounts, the second half delivers on that ambition, but the first half, especially the romance track, drew heavy criticism.
The objections centred on how Achiyyamma is introduced and how the relationship is developed on screen. Her character is introduced through a sequence in which the camera lingers on her body for several minutes without showing her face. The courtship that follows shows the hero telling his friends that he will touch Achiyyamma without her consent, entering her space and doing so, and later telling her, after she slaps him, that touch was his way of expressing love. The arc then ends with her kissing him, and no one faces any consequence.
Viewers argued that what the film presented as a playful romance was, in effect, a scene-by-scene normalisation of harassment, non-consent and the idea that a woman’s objection is an obstacle rather than a boundary. The criticism spread beyond the Telugu film audience and became a wider point of discussion.
India Today, in its review of the film, wrote, "The film's biggest problem, however, is neither technical nor narrative. It is Janhvi Kapoor's character. The issue is not simply that the romantic track feels disconnected from the central story. The issue is how the character is conceived and presented. Nearly every scene featuring her seems designed around objectification rather than character development."
Peddi theatrically released on June 4, 2026.
After facing criticism for the hypersexualised portrayal of Janhvi Kapoor’s character in Peddi, director Buchi Babu Sana said he was taken aback by the backlash. He admitted in an interview that he had not realised some scenes from the Ram Charan-starrer would be viewed as problematic.
The filmmaker said certain portions of the film failed to work as intended and that the response has prompted him to reassess his approach to writing female characters going forward.
In an interview with SCREEN, Buchi said, “I had not anticipated that the scenes would be perceived so negatively by audiences.” He added, “The idea was to showcase a playful romance story between Ram Charan and Janhvi Kapoor. However, we’ll be more careful and make better representations.” The criticism was directed largely at the film’s romance track involving Kapoor’s character, Achiyyamma.
Peddi is a sports drama set in the Vizianagaram district of Andhra Pradesh and is built around nameless villages and their fight for identity and recognition. Ram Charan plays Peddi, a cricketer-for-hire from one of these unnamed settlements, and his journey forms the emotional core of the film. By most accounts, the second half delivers on that ambition, but the first half, especially the romance track, drew heavy criticism.
The objections centred on how Achiyyamma is introduced and how the relationship is developed on screen. Her character is introduced through a sequence in which the camera lingers on her body for several minutes without showing her face. The courtship that follows shows the hero telling his friends that he will touch Achiyyamma without her consent, entering her space and doing so, and later telling her, after she slaps him, that touch was his way of expressing love. The arc then ends with her kissing him, and no one faces any consequence.
Viewers argued that what the film presented as a playful romance was, in effect, a scene-by-scene normalisation of harassment, non-consent and the idea that a woman’s objection is an obstacle rather than a boundary. The criticism spread beyond the Telugu film audience and became a wider point of discussion.
India Today, in its review of the film, wrote, "The film's biggest problem, however, is neither technical nor narrative. It is Janhvi Kapoor's character. The issue is not simply that the romantic track feels disconnected from the central story. The issue is how the character is conceived and presented. Nearly every scene featuring her seems designed around objectification rather than character development."
Peddi theatrically released on June 4, 2026.
