Actor Ram Charan has said that his new film, Peddi, follows in the footsteps of successful Bollywood sports dramas like Sultan and Dangal, crediting their lead stars, Salman Khan and Aamir Khan, for paving the way for him.
Ram Charan thanks Salman Khan, Aamir Khan
Ram attended the trailer launch of Peddi in Mumbai on Monday, where he spoke about the Film and the influence of Bollywood hits on its journey. “First of all, thanks to Salman sir and Aamir sir for giving us a paving the path for such films with Sultan and Dangal. It gave us so much confidence. Thank you, thanks to both of you for starting this journey, and we believe that this kind of film has worked in the past. And obviously, we followed the same route,” he said.
About Dangal and Sultan
Dangal, released in 2016, remains India’s highest-grossing film. It earned ₹387 crore net (over ₹450 crore gross) in India, a record at the time. But its windfall earnings came from China, which catapulted it past the ₹2000-crore mark. Sultan, released earlier in the same year, was also an all-time blockbuster, grossing over ₹300 crore in India and ₹623 crore worldwide.
Both films starred the two Khans as wrestlers. Sultan was a fictional tale about the eponymous wrestler, finding a second lease of life in his 40s as an MMA fighter. Dangal, on the other hand, told the true story of the rise of the Phogat sisters, the first women to win international medals for India in wrestling. Aamir played their father and coach, Mahabir Phogat.
Ram Charan on Peddi
The actor also opened up about the demanding process of making Peddi’, revealing that he has been deeply involved with the project. He also acknowledged director Buchi Babu Sana for his long commitment to the film.
He added, “This is about a man’s search for his identity. So, everybody, we all need some kind of identity to live and get through the day. And this is about Peddi, who’s finding his identity…he goes through an identity crisis before finding it for a larger cause. What leads him to become a crossover athlete and do what he does… It is organic; at the same time, it’s highly commercial.”
Directed by Buchi Babu Sena, the Telugu film also stars Janhvi Kapoor, Boman Irani and Divyenndu in the prominent roles. The film is slated to release in theatres on June 4.