Ram Charan’s Peddi has completed its North American run with a closing gross of $3.473 million (around Rs. 33 crore).
The breakup tells the story:
Telugu: $3.383 million
Hindi: $86,000
Tamil: $4,000
Now compare that with Jr. NTR’s Devara, which finished with $6.08 million in North America, almost 75% higher than Peddi. Devara outperformed Peddi across every language. Its Telugu version collected $5.5 million, while the Hindi version grossed $563K against Peddi’s $86K.
Overall, Peddi ended its overseas run with around $5.4 million (Rs. 51.4 crore). For a pan-India event film starring Ram Charan after RRR, those numbers are disastrous. Several overseas buyers reportedly suffered heavy losses.
But here’s the interesting part.
Devara also wasn’t an exceptional film. It opened to mixed reviews and was heavily trolled after its OTT release.
Peddi, on the other hand, received better reviews from many critics and a section of the audience. Yes, the Janhvi Kapoor track drew strong backlash, but apart from that, many felt it was a better film than Devara.
So why did Devara collect so much more?
There isn’t one clear answer. Maybe overseas audiences connected more with Devara’s straightforward mass-action story. Maybe Peddi’s sports backdrop didn’t generate the same excitement. Maybe the controversy surrounding Janhvi’s character hurt the film at the wrong time. Or maybe the lengthy runtime worked against it.
Whatever the reason, one thing is clear.
Ram Charan and Jr. NTR enjoy almost equal stardom after RRR, and both Peddi and Devara were flawed films. Yet Devara completely dominated Peddi in North America and overseas.
That is what makes Peddi’s box-office run so puzzling.
