Director Buchi Babu Sana’s sports action drama Peddi came under intense scrutiny over the portrayal of Janhvi Kapoor’s character, Achiyyamma. Many questioned the hypersexualisation of its female lead and zooming in on her body parts, even as the male lead describes her face’s beauty. Director Buchi Babu Sana released a statement addressing the controversy and apologised.
What the lyricist said
On Sunday, the makers addressed the media at a success meet of the film. During the interaction, when Buchi Babu Sana was asked about the decision to apologise, lyricist Anantha Sriram openly added that he did not like how the director apologised. He said in Telugu, “A character behaves the same way… that is the director’s imagination. It is a character created with that imagination. Here, the one who can speak English is great. The way of thinking of PhDs and graduates is the right one.. is increasing.. Those who are vocal on social media, those who are trolling by throwing out words they speak, are being influenced by their opinions. Apart from that, if a director is not even given the freedom to behave like this.. what have we done to creativity?”
‘We will not be able to make a great point in commercial films’
“That is, if you use big words like vital attraction, hormonal reactions, etc., it is called awesome as if it is done very aesthetically. If the hero speaks his tribal language and says, ‘I will touch you, it is called vulgarity; they say that he looked at you like an object. If you do all this, it is like trampling on creativity. Buchi Babu would have apologised with great politeness, with the intention of hurting someone’s feelings, or else he would have apologised with the intention of not hurting anyone. He may have apologised with the intention of saying that democracy is not 49:51, but 99:1, but if it continues like this, then we will not be able to make a great point in commercial films, except in documentary films in the first place,” he said.
About the controversy
Peddi’s romantic subplot has drawn criticism from some viewers, who argued that certain scenes blur the line between romance and consent. In one sequence, Peddi (Ram Charan) expresses his desire to be with Achiyyamma despite her lack of interest and later kisses her during a power cut without her consent. The scene sparked debate online, with several social media users describing the act as assault and questioning why it is portrayed differently from similar behaviour by another character in the film, who is clearly presented as a villain.
Buchi acknowledged the criticism directed at certain portions of the film and apologised to viewers who felt uncomfortable. “We have heard the feedback regarding certain scenes in Peddi and have taken it seriously,” he said, adding that the team would make changes to the concerned portions.
The film, which stars Ram Charan alongside Janhvi Kapoor, Shiva Rajkumar, Divyenndu and Boman Irani, has continued its strong run at the box office, already crossing the ₹200 crore mark in India.