Film: Peddi | Director: Buchi Babu Sana | Release: June 4, 2026
Cast: Ram Charan, Janhvi Kapoor, Shiva Rajkumar, Jagapathi Babu, Divyenndu, Boman Irani
Music: A.R. Rahman | Cinematography: R. Rathnavelu | Budget: Rs. 350 crore
Runtime: 189 minutes | Language: Telugu (also releasing in Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam)
Advance Booking (premiere night): Rs. 20.12 crore gross from 1,550 shows
Let’s be real — the hype around Peddi was next level. Ram Charan, fresh off the global wave of RRR, teaming up with Buchi Babu Sana (the guy behind Uppena) for a sports drama set in rural Andhra? With A.R. Rahman on music? This was always going to be one of the most-watched Telugu releases of the year.
The film hit theatres on June 4, 2026, and the premiere alone collected over Rs. 20 crore. So, does Peddi actually live up to all of that? Here’s the honest breakdown.
What’s the Film About?
Set in a remote village of Vizianagaram in the 1980s, Peddi follows a young man (Ram Charan) who plays cricket for whoever pays him. But there’s a bigger story underneath — his village, home to a tribal community in Kondakinda Ooru, doesn’t even appear on the map. No recognition, no identity, no rights.
Enter a government official (Boman Irani) on a mission to find hidden athletic talent in India’s Olympic drought. He finds Peddi — a guy who can wrestle, sprint, and bat, all in the same afternoon. What starts as a sports film slowly builds into something more emotional: a story about a forgotten community fighting to be seen. It’s ambitious, and that ambition is both the film’s biggest strength and its occasional weakness.
Ram Charan Carries This Film on His Shoulders
Almost every critic — from GreatAndhra to Deccan Chronicle — agrees on this much: Ram Charan is phenomenal here. This isn’t just a star doing star things. He completely disappears into the character. The body language, the rustic mannerisms, the way he carries the physical sports sequences alongside the raw emotional moments — it’s convincing from the first frame.
Multiple outlets are calling this the best performance of his career. That’s not a small claim for someone who already has Rangasthalam and RRR on his resume. If you’re a Ram Charan fan, this is the performance you’ve been waiting for.
#Peddi
Movie review blockbuster hit….@AlwaysRamCharan every time on top@BuchiBabuSana peak writing..
pic.twitter.com/xyaloYnnaG
— RC_Chinna (@Thisischinna_23) June 3, 2026
Congrats to Team PEDDI for the Stupendous BLOCKBUSTER … @AlwaysRamCharan bhai excels in every Frame.
#BucchiBabu garu delivers a very Satisfying film. @RathnaveluDop garu & #ArRehman
Must Watch on the BIG screen… @MythriOfficial @vriddhicinemas SIXERRR #PEDDI pic.twitter.com/RYs3Vfla3T— Nikhil Siddhartha (@actor_Nikhil) June 3, 2026
What Actually Works in Peddi
The film has some genuinely strong elements beyond the lead performance:
The sports sequences — Rathnavelu’s cinematography makes the cricket and wrestling sequences visually exciting. There’s genuine energy here, and the camera work gives these moments real weight.
The final 20 minutes — Critics consistently mention that the climax is emotionally powerful. One reviewer (Deccan Chronicle) even called it ‘shocking.’ The film earns its emotional payoff, even if it takes a long route to get there.
A.R. Rahman’s score — The background score elevates key scenes throughout the film. Rahman doesn’t overwhelm the story; instead, the music works quietly to strengthen emotional moments where the writing sometimes falls short.
Supporting cast — Shiva Rajkumar and Jagapathi Babu both leave an impression. They’re not just side characters — they actually contribute to the narrative momentum.
Interval block — The interval ends on a high note and does its job of pulling you back in for the second half.
Where Peddi Stumbles
No sugarcoating here — the film has real problems, and they’re hard to ignore in a 189-minute runtime.
The screenplay is the biggest issue. For a film with so much to say — tribal identity, sports as survival, institutional neglect — the writing often feels thin. The emotional ideas are there, but the execution doesn’t always connect.
Janhvi Kapoor’s role is underwritten. She brings sincerity to the performance, but the character doesn’t give her much to work with. The romance between her and Ram Charan lacks the spark the story needs.
Pacing drags in the middle portions of both halves. A tighter edit could have made this a noticeably better experience.
Box Office: Strong Start, Especially in Telugu Markets
The numbers coming in from Day 1 are encouraging. Premiere shows collected Rs. 20.12 crore gross across 1,550 shows, with 74.7% occupancy and 549 housefull shows. By early afternoon on June 4, Day 1 tracking showed Rs. 22.98 crore already collected from 7,018 shows across 943 cities.
In Telugu markets, this could be Ram Charan’s biggest non-Rajamouli opening. The Hindi market, however, is a different story — advance bookings in Hindi were comparatively muted, with only about 5,000 tickets sold heading into release day. The film will need strong word-of-mouth in Hindi to turn that around.
Final Verdict: Worth Watching?
Peddi is a mixed bag, but it’s a very watchable mixed bag. Ram Charan’s performance alone justifies the theatre experience. The film has a beating heart at its centre — the story of a community that just wants to be recognized — and when it leans into that, it works beautifully.
The screenplay’s inconsistency and a stretched runtime keep it from being the classic it could have been. But this is still a step up for Buchi Babu Sana after Uppena, and it proves Ram Charan has the range for serious, character-driven cinema.
Critics are largely landing at 3/5 — a solid but not exceptional film. If you’re going in for Ram Charan, you won’t leave disappointed. If you’re going in for a tightly written sports drama, temper expectations slightly.