In the 1990s, Pushpa Raj, a labourer, decides to smuggle red sandalwood, a rare wood in high demand that only grows in the Seshachalam Hills of the Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh with his friend sidekick Kesava. When DSP Govindappa and his team raid the forest for apprehending the coolies and seize the stock, Pushpa hides it, gets arrested and brutally beaten for revealing the location of wood. Pushpa’s employer, smuggler Konda Reddy and his brothers bail Pushpa out for the stock’s location and he eventually rises through the ranks by suggesting novel ideas to smuggle the stock earning Konda Reddy’s trust and becoming his 4% partner, while also simultaneously receiving hatred from Konda Reddy’s youngest brother Jolly Reddy.
Managalam Srinu, Konda Reddy’s boss and a big criminal known for his cruelty and oppression, manages the syndicate and entrusts Konda Reddy to keep 200 tons of his contraband safe from the Police Department. As Jolly Reddy is deemed incompetent for task, Pushpa is assigned to do the same. Jolly Reddy intentionally delays the export of wood putting Pushpa in a perplexed condition as Govindappa is about to raid the place. Pushpa throws all the logs into a nearby river while Kesava bribes the chief engineer of the neighboring dam to close its gates preventing the logs from flowing and Govindappa gains nothing with the raid for second time. Srinu hosts a party on this occasion and during the festivity, Pushpa overhears the conversation of two people discussing Srinu’s scams and realizes that he sells wood at much higher price than what they are paid. He informs it to Konda Reddy suggesting him to demand a fair share from Srinu but gives up when going against a highly influential Srinu seems risky.
