Waste of Talent & Hype: Then Sukumar, Now Buchi Babu?

During the promotional campaign for Peddi, Jagapathi Babu attended major events, gave numerous interviews, and repeatedly expressed confidence in the project. He even went on to say that Peddi would rank among the top films of his career and could even feature his best performance.

The makers also highlighted his makeover through promotional videos, while Jagapathi Babu revealed that many people failed to recognize him in the character’s look.

Now that the film has been released, audiences largely agree that Jagapathi Babu has delivered a strong performance. His appearance is striking, his screen presence is effective, and he makes an impact whenever he appears.

The debate, however, is about the role itself.

While Appalasoori plays an important part in the story, his screen time is limited. His best moments come during the confrontation with the MLA and the events leading into the interval block. Beyond that, the character does not receive enough material to leave a lasting impact.

Many viewers feel the role needed a stronger backstory and more exploration of his relationship with Ram Charan’s character. Why Jagapathi Babu’s death affects Ram Charan so deeply does not come across effectively on screen because their relationship dynamics are not explored by director Buchi Babu Sana. As a result, there is a noticeable gap between the pre-release hype surrounding Appalasoori and what ultimately appears on screen.

Some fans have even wondered whether portions of the character were trimmed during editing without his knowledge, though there is no evidence to support that theory. In Pushpa 2 as well, director Sukumar did not give Jagapathi Babu a role worthy of his talent and stature. Now, Sukumar’s disciple Buchi Babu Sana has also failed to utilize Jagapathi Babu to his full potential.

In fact, several viewers believe Shiva Rajkumar’s Gournaidu leaves a better impression in Peddi. Despite Jagapathi Babu giving his best to the role, the character itself was not written with enough depth or screen time to rank among the most iconic performances of his career. Forget about being his best performance, Peddi’s performance does not even rank among his top 10.