The song ‘Chikiri Chikiri’ from Peddi was released months before the film’s arrival and had become a rage almost instantly. The tune was catchy, Mohit Chauhan’s vocals gave it a breezy charm and the track had all the ingredients of a chartbuster. But sadly, once audiences saw how the song was placed and picturized in the film, the feeling around it changed completely. What should have been a romantic, crowd-pleasing number ended up leaving a bitter aftertaste.
Peddi tells the story of an extraordinary man and his life journey. Along the way, he falls in love with Achiyamma, played by Janhvi Kapoor. But from the moment Achiyamma enters the film, the gaze is disturbingly clear. The camera is less interested in her emotions, her personality or her presence, and far more interested in her body, especially her waist and midriff.
Commercial South cinema has often been accused of an unhealthy fascination with the heroine’s navel and waist. Hence, one expected a few such shots. But Peddi does not merely indulge in it; it overdoes it to the point of discomfort. Every time Janhvi appears on screen, one can almost predict that within seconds, the camera will drift towards her midriff. What could have been sensuality becomes objectification.
But the problem with Peddi is not limited to how Janhvi is shot. It becomes far more serious because of how her character is treated.
In one disturbing scene, Peddi forcibly kisses Achiyamma in the dark. She is shaken, devastated and violated. And immediately after this deeply uncomfortable moment, the makers insert ‘Chikiri Chikiri’. The song seems intended to be in the same vein as ‘Srivalli’ from Pushpa – a romantic track where the hero expresses his feelings and the audience is expected to smile along. But here, the emotion simply does not land. How can viewers celebrate the hero’s love immediately after witnessing an act done without the woman’s consent?
Worse still, the film gets a chance to course-correct in the second half and fails miserably. Achiyamma eventually realizes that it was Peddi who kissed her without her consent. At this point, one expects the film to at least acknowledge the gravity of his action. A sincere apology would not have erased what he did, but it could have given the character a chance at redemption. Instead, Peddi justifies himself. He says that while some people express love by writing or saying it, he expresses it by touching.
One hoped Achiyamma would slap him and walk away. Instead, she falls for him. And that is where Peddi reveals how dated and dangerous its writing is.
Unsurprisingly, writer-director Buchi Babu Sana has faced heavy criticism for these portions. But Janhvi Kapoor, too, has come under fire for accepting a role that reduces her to a visual prop for large portions of the film. And that criticism hurts more because Janhvi’s career has shown that she is capable of far better.
She made a confident debut with Dhadak (2018), and with Gunjan Saxena – The Kargil Girl (2020), she proved that she could shoulder a performance-driven film. Roohi (2021) may have been forgettable, but ‘Nadiyo Paar’ showed that she could also set the screen on fire in a glamorous avatar. Thereafter, she delivered sincere and impressive work in author-backed films such as Good Luck Jerry (2022), Mili (2022), Bawaal (2023), Mr & Mrs Mahi (2024), Ulajh (2024), and Homebound (2025). She also balanced these choices with more commercial films like Param Sundari (2025) and Sunny Sanskari Ki Tulsi Kumari (2025).
But her Southern stint is where things have, quite literally, gone South. In Devara (2024), her role had a limited contribution to the story. She was remembered more for the way she was presented than for what she performed. That film was still easier to understand as a strategic move. Many heroines in big South commercial films have accepted brief, glamour-heavy parts as a stepping stone to reach a wider market, especially if the film gives them a memorable song.
But Peddi is far more problematic. The depiction of Achiyamma is neither dignified nor layered. It is difficult to believe that such a character, as finally presented on screen, adds anything valuable to Janhvi Kapoor’s journey as an actor.
There has been speculation that perhaps Janhvi was not fully aware of how her scenes would be filmed or edited in the final cut. That may be possible to an extent. Actors do not always control how the camera frames them or how sequences are ultimately assembled. But that explanation cannot completely absolve her either. The trailer itself contained glimpses of the kind of shots that became a talking point after release. Hence, the argument that she was kept entirely in the dark is not easy to accept.
The larger issue is this: Janhvi Kapoor has spent years trying to prove that she is more than a star kid, more than a glamour face and more than a social media sensation. Films like Gunjan Saxena, Mili, Good Luck Jerry and Homebound helped her build that image. Peddi, unfortunately, pulls her several steps back.
The way forward
The backlash over Janhvi’s Peddi avatar has been intense. In fact, she has probably never faced this kind of criticism in her eight-year career. The good news is that this can still become a turning point, provided she treats it as a warning, not just trolling.
Firstly, Janhvi should insist on a bound script and greater clarity about the tone, treatment and visual presentation of her character before signing such films. It may also be time for actors to demand contractual safeguards against scenes being drastically altered, sensationalized or visually presented in a manner very different from what was promised.
Secondly, scenes of the hero trying to get intimate with the heroine without her consent is so 1996, and has no place in 2026. Bollywood, by and large, has moved away from this brand of romance. Some sections of South commercial cinema, however, continue to treat stalking, coercion and forced intimacy as passion. Janhvi Kapoor should stay far away from such material – not merely because of social media backlash, but because such narratives have no place in today’s cinema.
Thirdly, it’s okay to shoot intimate scenes and skin show; the biggest of actress in India and abroad have indulged in it and earned rave reviews. The problem begins when a female character is shot with no agency, no dignity and no purpose beyond titillation. There is a difference between owning sensuality and being reduced to body parts by the camera. Peddi falls firmly in the second category.
Most importantly, Janhvi does not need to go down this route to become big in the South. Sai Pallavi and Mrunal Thakur have shown that actresses can win massive admiration in Southern industries without being reduced to eye candy. Janhvi herself has already proved, repeatedly, that she has the ability to carry complex, author-backed roles.
That is the Janhvi Kapoor South audiences deserve to see. Peddi may have given her visibility, but at what cost? That is the question Janhvi Kapoor needs to ask before signing her next big South film.
More Pages: Peddi Box Office Collection , Peddi Movie Review
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