Suddenly, Janhvi Kapoor, hyper-sexualisation and male gaze seem to be the trending keywords for Peddi rather than Ram Charan, sports drama or anything they were originally planning to sell.

Mention Peddi, and the immediate recall right now for most is the controversy surrounding Janhvi and not the film itself, or its titular hero. That wasn’t meant to be. On paper as on screen, Peddi was always about Ram Charan.

IN WALKS JANHVI

Chiranjeevi’s son returns to the screen with Peddi and the film packages him as an alpha male. This was billed as the project to revive the actor’s fortunes after Game Changer frittered away his RRR advantage. The pre-release hype had also meticulously worked at pitching Peddi as Ram Charan’s pan-India shot – think Baahubali for Prabhas or Pushpa for Allu Arjun.

In walks Janhvi Kapoor on the Peddi screen as Achiyamma, and all plans go haywire.

Janhvi has made more news over the past seven days than she managed in eight years since debut. Natter around her role in Peddi started on the film’s day one, and by the time end credits were rolling on first day first shows, social media had found a fresh topic for discussion.

For those who came in late, the talk centres on Janhvi being unnecessarily sexualised in the film. Forget weak role – many insist Janhvi’s Achiyamma wasn’t needed in the story. Her sole reason for existence in Peddi, they feel, is to titillate even as Ram Charan struts machismo.

But any publicity is good publicity, some may argue. The film’s team must realise that the hard way.

OVERLOAD OF MACHISMO

Peddi talk over the past week – at least in the pan-India context – has hardly veered towards Ram Charan’s action, melodrama or naach-gaana, or even his on-screen romance with Janhvi. Rather, it’s all about problematic camera angles capturing Achiyamma’s body in weird ways. Peddi, played by Ram Charan, doesn’t understand consent, stalks Achiyamma and force-kisses her. Such sequences were probably meant to flaunt the hero’s hyper-masculinity. They’ve turned attention towards the heroine and hyper-sexuality.

Chat leaks, unconfirmed messages attributed to Janhvi, backlash from women’s rights groups and, finally, director Buchi Babu Sana’s apology because some shots “turned misleading”, plus the assurance that controversial scenes would be edited: It’s all played out within a week since the film released on June 4 in IMAX, 4DX, ScreenX, ICE, PCX, PXL, Dolby Cinema, EPIQ — and whatever latest cinematic marvel they’ve cracked so far.

RAM CHARAN RULES HOME TURF, BUT…

He’s raging on screens in AP and Telangana – his home turf – we are told, but clearly that’s not enough.

On Peddi‘s pan-India prospects, consider these facts: At the time of writing, the film’s global collection stands at around Rs 261.64 crore, per Sacnilk. Reports state the film’s budget touches Rs 350 crore. It could be a difficult math to meet given the all-India scenario. The upcoming Friday (June 12) has seven Hindi releases at the last count, including Main Vaapas Aaunga, with Cocktail 2 and Welcome To The Jungle to follow in June. Peddi might strive to sustain buzz all over India.

In a bid to give his film a push, Ram Charan declared at a recent Hyderabad thank-you meet: “This film will be placed first or second in my film library. (sic)” Nothing wrong with an actor hardselling his new release, except that many fans aren’t convinced about the assertion, the logic being: If Peddi is among his top two, which two of RRR, Magadheera and Rangasthalam would he take off the list? Fans have traditionally rated these three as films that define the actor’s stardom.

Countdown logic would seem the least of Ram Charan’s concerns right now. The film needs to work, and he needs to get the pan-India fans looking his way, too.