An ambitious rural sports drama with flashes of real uplift, strong star presence, and a few rousing set pieces, but the film appears uneven, overstuffed, and weighed down by formula, melodrama, and troubling gender politics. It sounds most rewarding in isolated stretches rather than as a fully satisfying whole.
An ambitious rural sports drama with flashes of real uplift, strong star presence, and a few rousing set pieces, but the film appears uneven, overstuffed, and weighed down by formula, melodrama, and troubling gender politics. It sounds most rewarding in isolated stretches rather than as a fully satisfying whole.
Best for
Viewers who like big, emotional Telugu mass dramas
Fans of underdog sports stories with village pride stakes
Audiences who can forgive messy plotting for high-energy moments
People drawn to performances and score-driven uplift
Skip if
You want tight, disciplined screenwriting
You’re sensitive to sexist or sexualized treatment of women
You prefer grounded sports dramas over hero-centric spectacle
You get frustrated by bloated runtimes and repeated melodrama
Overview
Peddi aims for the emotional sweep of a village underdog saga, using sport as a rallying point for dignity, identity, and collective pride. In its best moments, that premise clearly has lift: the performance energy, the rural texture, and the sense of a community pushing back against power all seem to land with force.
Worth noting
But the film also sounds like it keeps tripping over its own ambitions. Multiple reviews point to a screenplay that sprawls, shifts focus, and leans too hard on familiar mass-movie beats. When the story is strongest, it feels urgent and inspiring; when it falters, it becomes repetitive, over-melodramatic, and emotionally thin.
Bottom line
The biggest caveat is the treatment of its female character, which several viewers found objectifying and regressive. That undercuts the film’s emotional credibility and makes it harder to embrace as a serious social drama. If you’re here for star power, score, and isolated high points, there’s enough to sample; if you want coherence and sensitivity, this is likely a pass.
Top Letterboxd reviews
KaranDravid (2★) · 231 likes
• A Film can be Good• A Film can be BadEither outcome will satisfy the audience in one way or the other But • A Film should never be Good Only In Parts, such an outcome satisfies nobody. THAT'S THE OUTCOME/CURSE OF PEDDI. Peddi mostly works only on an idea level and Peddi as film feels good only during the moments where the potential of the ideas it possesses are seen in a few good scenes. But Everything… more
Michael James (2★) · 163 likes
The firepower loaded RRR trio in Ram Charan - Rahman - Rathnavelu come all cylinders blazing, but sadly the tiring screenplay drags Peddi all the way down to mediocre zone.Peddi aspires to be an emotional rural sports drama, exploring themes of identity, social dignity and perseverance. As an underdog story, it offers occasional flashes of brilliance, but soon turns tiresome as it slips into a familiar mix of formulaic action, overstretched forced melodrama and predictable emotional beats. The bloated runtime,… more
vishalandcinema · 157 likes
There are far too many lingering gaze, cleavage, and navel shots of Janhvi Kapoor in a story that is supposedly centred on sports, corruption, and the identity struggles of rural India. Meanwhile Ram Charan is brilliant in delivering to the emotional beats of the film. But the excessive melodrama eventually left me detached from the story. Not my kind of film.
sushiiiiiiiii (0.5★) · 118 likes
Ask him what color her eyes are and he’d probably need a lifeline.
Vedangi (0.5★) · 109 likes
Ram Charan is getting away with the sexualisation of jhanvi drama cuz i don’t get. Is he a coward or powerless or does he think it’s okay? Like he can’t change the dialogues and scenes? The dialogues, The s3xual assault in the movie, The justification of those scenes were said by his own mouth, no fucking way. Consider this an attack because I’m so disappointed in my favourite Tollywood actor. He should hace rejected the script. Considering Deepika and spirit