Buchi Babu Sana’s Peddi stars Ram Charan as a master of three different sports. Charan’s eponymous hero excels in cricket, wrestling and running, using his athletic prowess to bring recognition to his village. Released on June 4 in Telugu, Hindi and other languages, Peddi received mixed reviews for its preposterous plotting, punishing length and, most of all, Janhvi Kapoor’s overly sexualised heroine Achiyamma.
The straight-backed, chest-out Achiyamma is the kind of oopmhy and ornamental heroine who continues to turn up in films. The only purpose she services is to entice Peddi.
The social media backlash to Peddi prompted verbal gymnastics and public posturing. Sana offered a mea culpa, claiming that he would trim the contentious scenes.
“I have always had immense respect for women, both on and off screen, and it was never our intention to objectify or disrespect any female character,” Sana said in a social media post. “Every woman deserves to be respected, valued, and represented with dignity.”
Although neither Charan nor Kapoor has spoken on the subject, Kapoor’s makeup artist Savleen Kaur Manchanda claimed on social media that Kapoor had raised concerns about Achiyamma during the shoot. Social media users shared unverified screen grabs attributed to Manchanda of supposed chats with Kapoor, in which the 29-year-old actor claimed to have spoken to both Charan and Sana.
The Hindi version of Peddi isn’t performing as well as the original Telugu movie. Before the release, Ram Charan made a couple of snafus. He described cricketer Jasprit Bumrah as a footballer and during a promotional event in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh showered praise on the “people of Bihar”.
If Buchi Babu Sana does actually cut down Achiyamma’s sequences, there won’t be much left.
Peddi continues the fetishisation of female anatomy that has long been a feature of the Telugu and other film industries. Even before Peddi sees Achiyamma’s face, he is drawn to her waist. R Rathnavelu’s camera repeatedly zooms in on the stretch of flesh that drives Peddi to distraction. A little later, Peddi kisses Achiyamma in the dark, without her consent.
We have already been introduced to Achiyamma’s brash, scandal-mongering behaviour. Achiyamma is a politician’s daughter, with strong – and crooked – ideas of how to win an election. She sets her father’s fields ablaze so that she can win him sympathy votes. Throughout the campaign trail, Achiyamma pouts, preens and thrusts out her torso. She has a cartoonish hyper-femininity but it isn’t intended to be satirical.
Achiyamma’s campaigning is cut short when a rival slashes her blouse in public. This symbolic rape provides Peddi with the excuse to leap to her rescue.
Achiyamma later turns up in a dance number featuring Shruti Haasan, in which Achiyamma competes with the dancer to keep Peddi’s attention on her. After this, Achiyamma disappears from her lover’s life.
Even without the voyeurism, Achiyamma is insignificant to the larger narrative. If Janhvi Kapoor or her managers didn’t understood this, or didn’t realise how Achiyamma’s coquetry would play out, it can be put down to either poor judgement or wilful ignorance.
The Peddi row is a repeat of the hostile reaction Kapoor faced in Koratala Siva’s Devara: Part 1 (2024), another Telugu movie that was dubbed into Hindi. Devara: Part 1 starred rival Telugu star NTR Jr in a double role, as the noble pirate Devara and his son Vara. Kapoor’s character Thangam is paired with Vara. Thangam is introduced in a lengthy bathing scene. Like Achiyamma, Thangam is hyperbolically feminine, all body and no substance.
This character type is hardly new. The sex object who exists only to be wooed, mistreated and then rescued stubbornly endures. It’s only the degree of crudity that differs from one production to the next.
Some films, particular the newer ones from Bollywood, are more attuned to potential outrage and so more decorous in how they treat their heroines. But women remain largely superfluous to the wider storytelling universe.
The rising popularity of ultra-violent films led by testosterone-oozing heroes has left women with even less to do. Honourable exceptions aside (Stree 2, Crew, Saiyaara, Dhadak 2), noteworthy films in the last couple of years continue to valourise the exploits of men.
When women do lead movies – the flop Jigra, the average grosser Mardaani 3 – they assume the aggression and revenge-seeking behaviour of men. Even here, women on the path of vengeance are often mothers or have maternal instincts. Women who display intelligence and courage purely for themselves – like the air hostesses in Crew – are rare in films.
The rules change somewhat on streaming platforms. Films directly released on streamers and web series take greater risks with female characters. Streaming has been particularly kind to older actresses.
Madhuri Dixit (Mrs Deshpande, Maa Behen), Karisma Kapoor (Brown), Kajol (The Trial), Sonali Bendre (Raakh), Juhi Chawla (Hush Hush) all became famous for films that were not too different from the type that star the likes of Janhvi Kapoor. Having played their share of chest-thrusting, hip-swinging and air-headed characters, these women have reached an enviable comfort zone.
They have enough affluence, name recognition and clout to pick and shape their projects. Although many of them are stuck playing wives and mothers, they are able to expand their acting range in ways that were never available to them previously.
This is the sweet spot that millennial-era actresses can aspire to – but only 20 years later. In the present, they must conform to the rules of the game that dictate hair-tossing, feet-stamping and prominent pouting.
Achiyamma is hardly the first of her kind, and she won’t be the last.
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