The Peddi team hosted a ‘thank you meet’ in Hyderabad on Monday to discuss the film’s weekend box office performance. Ram Charan, director Buchi Babu Sana, along with the film’s producer, presenter, and distributor attended the event. Jagapathi Babu, who played a significant role in the movie, appeared to indirectly respond to the criticism surrounding Janhvi Kapoor’s character and expressed gratitude to those who gave the film negative reviews.
Jagapathi Babu says Peddi team fought and won twice
At the event, Jagapathi appeared to respond to the online backlash Peddi has faced over the way Janhvi’s character was objectified in the film. He said, “Peddi played, struggled, and won. Even after winning with the film’s release, the Peddi team had to play again, had to fight again, and then they won once more. Perhaps this is the only game where you have to win twice.”
He went on to say that the film’s theme was such that audiences could easily have rejected it. “Leaving aside the ₹300 crore or ₹400 crore it has earned, this movie is so finely balanced that the person who buys a ₹300 ticket ultimately decides its fate. Our industry is so fragile that our future depends entirely on their perception,” Jagapathi said, adding, “In such an industry, it’s extremely difficult to find a producer willing to back a story like this, let alone persuade a star like Ram Charan to be part of it. If anything had gone wrong, people would have slammed the film. But Ram carried the film remarkably well. He wasn’t just a man in this movie; he was like Superman, like He-Man.”
Later during the conference, Jagapathi took the microphone to express his gratitude to the media present and the audience. He said, “Once again, thank you to everyone. And to those who wrote negative reviews, I am even more grateful, because you have unknowingly helped us a great deal.”
The backlash Peddi received
Although the early reviews of Buchi’s Peddi, which highlighted its central theme of identity, were largely positive, conversation quickly shifted to accusations that Janhvi’s character was hypersexualised. In the film, she is even assaulted by the titular character, an act that is later reframed as an expression of love and romance. As backlash grew from both industry insiders and audiences Buchi issued an apology and promised that the objectionable scenes would be removed. Despite the controversy, Peddi earned ₹233 crore worldwide during its opening weekend.