Peddi controversy: Janhvi Kapoor's makeup artist backs actress, confirms she 'drew a professional line'

Janhvi Kapoor in still from Peddi. Pic via X

The Peddi controversy refuses to die down, and now it has a brand-new voice in the mix. As the debate around the hypersexualisation of Janhvi Kapoor's character continues to rage online, the actress's makeup artist, Savleen Kaur Manchanda, took to her Instagram stories on Saturday to defend her publicly.

Savleen's post claims that Janhvi had explicitly questioned the controversial shots during post-production itself. She went further, saying that while Janhvi drew a clear professional line, the final edit kept the footage anyway. The post called it exactly what it was, a director choosing to override an actress's consent because box office numbers mattered more than her comfort.

Ram Charan had her back, but the edit did not

This comes on the back of alleged private chat screenshots shared by Janhvi's fan pages, purportedly from October 30, 2025, months before Peddi hit cinemas.

In one widely circulated message, Janhvi allegedly wrote that she had specifically told the director not to use certain body-focused shots, and that Ram Charan had personally confronted the director on her behalf. In another message, she allegedly wrote that no one had any idea what she was going through and that she was trying to reason with them. That is not someone who stayed silent, that is someone who fought hard and still lost.

Director apologises, but the question remains

Following the uproar, director Buchi Babu Sana issued a formal apology on X, confirming that changes would be made to the concerned portions of the film. Right response, but it raises an uncomfortable question that no apology can quite answer. If Janhvi flagged these issues during post-production itself, how did those shots still make it into the final cut that millions of people watched?

Despite all the noise, Peddi continues to perform strongly at the box office, having collected Rs 126 crore net in India and over Rs 190 crore worldwide. The numbers may look great on paper. But this conversation, about consent, about boundaries, and about who actually holds the power on a film set, is far from over.