Since the premieres of Buchi Babu Sana’s Ram Charan and Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Peddi, the makers have faced backlash over their portrayal of the female lead. Janhvi, who plays Achiyyamma in the film, is objectified in many scenes and even assaulted by the main lead. The actor seems to agree with the audience that her role was a misfire in the film. (Also Read: Peddi: Hero assaults heroine but Buchi Babu Sana insists on calling it ‘romance’ in Ram Charan-Janhvi Kapoor film)
Janhvi Kapoor likes post criticising Peddi
The Instagram page Recommendation Community made a post on Peddi, the title of which reads: “Peddi: the most expensive disrespect ever paid to a leading woman in Indian cinema. The post criticises the ₹350 crore film for framing the denial of human identity as a systemic evil, while denying Achiyamma the same humanity. It also criticises how Ram gets a sociopolitical crusade while Janhvi gets a midriff close-up.
A portion of the post also reads: “It is easy to blame an actress for the roles she takes, but the actual timeline tells a different story. Reports show that Janhvi Kapoor explicitly questioned these shots during post-production, a boundary that perfectly mirrors her recent public stance against the industry’s habit of oversexualizing women. She drew a professional line, but the final edit kept the footage anyway. This isn’t a case of an actress failing to stand up for herself. It is a director choosing to ignore a boundary because he decided her consent mattered less than his box office numbers.”
Janhvi did not comment under the post, but many noticed that she had liked it, clearly agreeing with it. “Liked by janhvi kapoor,” commented one person under the post with crying emojis. “Wtf this post is liked by jahnvi kapoor. It is an insult to tfi.” wrote another.
Janhvi Kapoor objectified and sexualised in Peddi
Peddi features a problematic love track devoid of consent that Buchi passes off as ‘romance’ and ‘love’. Peddi, the character, remarks that he would like to touch Achiyamma without her consent, as she would never agree to love him, nor would her father agree to marry them. He even makes good on his promise by kissing her without consent during a power cut. When Achiyamma cries, another male character asks her to forget about it for the sake of her father’s political career.
Since the film’s premiere, numerous people took to social media to point out that what Peddi did to Achiyamma was assault. Especially when a different character is villainised for violating her in another scene.