Uppena director Buchi Babu Sana gives his own touch to a Rangasthalam like set up. The film works best when it focuses on the social milieu of caste and the incredible fighting spirit of Peddi. Ramcharan in the titular role goes all out both physically and emotionally. Whatever the fate of Peddi financially the film will be a milestone for Ramcharan the actor. Janhvi Kapoor in her second Tollywood outing doesn’t fare any better whether its the accent or the overall performance. The overt sexualization doesn’t help either

Starcast: Ramcharan, Jagapathi Babu, Shiva Rajkumar, Divyendu, Janhvi Kapoor and others

Genre: Sports/drama

Direction and story: Buchi Babu Sana

Screenplay: Nagendra Kasi, Vara Prasad Toleti, Sri Raman CH etc

Music: AR Rahman

Cinematography: R Rathnavelu

Producers: Naveen Yerneni, Venkata Satish Kilaru, Sukumar etc

Production Companies: Mythri Movie Makers, Sukumar Writings etc

Running time: 3 hours plus

Sukumar’s Rangasthlam and the Pushpa movies aren’t just box office blockbusters; they opened a new grammar of filmmaking especially the return of rural stories in a commercial set up. His assistants Srikant Odela and Buchi Babu Sana have been successful in carving their own niche while paying tribute to their mentor/guru. Buchi Babu Sana’s first film Uppena started off as a story of star-crossed lovers, but what made the film unique was a pivotal pre climax twist. It was daring especially keeping in mind the star launch of Vaishav Tej. With his latest Peddi the director once again takes a very wild swing with the characterization of Ramcharan. The details cannot be revealed here but Ramcharan deserves major appreciation for submitting to the vision of the filmmaker and not letting his pan India image come in the way

The one-line story of Pedda is about a labor/athlete. How Ramcharan’s Peddi uses his multiple sporting skills to lift a deprived community with the village getting united forms the spine of the film. The story of Peddi is narrated to Boman Irani’s Kiran Singh. Kiran Singh is a senior official from Indian Olympics and is used as a typical framing device for the audiences to discover the legendary journey of Peddi. The plot is supposedly inspired from a daily wage laborer called Peddi Babu.

A strong aspect of Peddi are its social beats. An overarching theme is the struggle for basic identity and recognition. Peddi becoming a cross over athlete is less about personal fame and more about his village lacking infrastructure and a name. This has come out solidly in the monologues of both Ramcharan as well as Jagapathi Babu playing Peddi’s father.

Buchi Baba also does a solid job in presenting the struggles of bonded laborers. How the rural working class is repeatedly shamed for belonging to a marginalized caste has some powerful moments. The prejudices of the government in not helping them makes the viewers root even more for Peddi to win.

The caste politics in everyday life even in something like sports meant to be a unifier has its share of poignant moments. A special mention must be made of Shiva Rajkumar’s Gournaidu. His character has some powerful moments like the scene where he chooses Peddi over his upper caste student/disciple. The scenes between Gournaidu and Peddi though familiar gives the movie some of its best moments. Shiva Rajkumar brings in emotional depth as well as the required authority.

Bollywood actor Divyendu plays a mini antagonist. The character Rambujji is sketchy written, but Divyendu plays the part with the required attitude. A particular mention must be made of the scene where Divyendu questions Peddi’s worth after a deliberately lost cricket match. It sets a solid base for Peddi venturing into wrestling. Buchi Babu does succeed in humanizing Rambujji though. The climatic portion of Peddi’s village people seeing the match in his house has some nice touches. The message of how sports can be a great unifier in getting people together irrespective of caste, class etc has been solidly written and enacted.

However, the major spine of Peddi without a doubt is Ramcharan. Ramcharan is the glue holding the proceedings together. The physical transformation is of course fantastic particularly the wrestling part. But the actor majorly scores in the emotional scenes. A crucial portion set in the hospital will move the viewers. A long monologue towards the end also deserves a special mention, it hits the right buttons thanks to the writing as well as Ramcharan’s stupendous act. Lastly Jagapathi Babu is also striking in the role of Applasoori. Yes, for some the part may across as melodramatic but Jagapathi Babu nails the desperation of Appalasoori.

A major problem with Peddi is Janhvi Kapoor as Achiyamma. The romantic track just doesn’t work whether its the lines or how Achiyamma falls in love. For a movie talking about dignity and identity Achiyamma is mostly written from a voyeuristic gaze. Even some of Peddi’s lines about Achiyamma reek of casual sexism and this is something Buchi Babu should have avoided. In fact the female characters leave a lot to be desired especially keeping in mind how Uppena had a solid female character. The confrontation of Krithi Shetty with Vijay Sethupathi was Uppena’s biggest highlight. Unfortunately, Peddi lacks severely in this department.

Also Boman Irani as a framing device feels convoluted beyond a point. A more original approach was needed. Apart from being a patient listener and being bewildered on Peddi’s multi-faceted personality the actor has nothing more to do.

AR Rahman’s music and background score is solid for most part. The already popular Chikiri works both for its upbeat tune and Ramcharan’s swag. The Masaa Massa on the other hand makes for a good montage training song. The background score too especially the Delhi scenes work well. But a special number featuring Sruthi Hasan along with Janhvi feels like an unnecessary add on. Apart from ample skin show for front benchers there is nothing more.