| Director | Sukumar |
|---|---|
| Budget | ₹400 crore |
| Box office | ₹1,642 crore |
A consignment of red sandalwood arrives at the Yokohama port in Japan, where workers are shocked to find Pushpa hidden inside one of the containers. He attacks them, demanding payment for the load, but is shot and falls into the sea, triggering a flashback.
After humiliating SP Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat IPS, Pushpa rises to power as a respected smuggler, while Shekhawat goes into hiding. Shekhawat secretly masquerades as a labourer and intercepts a massive sandalwood consignment. Meanwhile, Pushpa meets the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Narasimha Reddy, but is denied a photograph with him to avoid political backlash. Offended, Pushpa vows to topple the government by making Siddappa the Chief Minister, raising ₹500 crores through sandalwood smuggling.
Pushpa strikes a deal with Central Minister Kogatam Veera Pratap Reddy and meets international buyer Hameed in Maldives to sell 2,000 tonnes of sandalwood for ₹5,000 crores. Several smugglers join Pushpa's syndicate, but Mangalam Srinu and Dakshayani, along with Shekhawat, plot to sabotage the operation. Shekhawat kills one of the syndicate members, causing fear among the others, who urge Pushpa to relinquish his leadership to Srinu. Siddappa later tries to end the rivalry between Pushpa and Shekhawat and asks Pushpa to apologise to Shekhawat at a meeting. However, Pushpa once again brutally disrespects Shekhawat for being a corrupt cop, after which Shekhawat swears to seize every consignment of red sandalwood.
Pushpa, however, manages to use his tricks and methods to smuggle the sandalwood to Chennai before its final destination in Sri Lanka. During the transport, Shekhawat catches up and shoots at all the trucks, forcing the drivers to flee. The media lauds Shekhawat for the raid, but Srinu realises the load was not sandalwood but Sandra, a wood that resembles red sandalwood but holds no market value. Pushpa had instead made bullock carts carrying the actual load and transported it to Chennai, indirectly aided by Shekhawat himself. Shekhawat asks Srinu to obtain one tonne of genuine red sandalwood to deceive the examination committee and works to trace Pushpa's original consignment. The news reports that the consignment seized was real sandalwood, causing fear among the syndicate members. Later, they hold a meeting where everyone questions Pushpa about the whereabouts of the original consignment. Pushpa assures them that it is safe and reveals the location of the load only to Jakka Reddy.
Meanwhile, Srivalli discovers that she is pregnant, and Pushpa celebrates. However, tragedy strikes when his niece, Kaveri, is assaulted during the Jathara festival by Bugga Reddy and his gang. Pushpa beats them up, humiliates them, and sends them back. Shekhawat eventually obtains permission and manages to track the consignment to Rameswaram, as he had spied on Jakka Reddy, but fails to capture it before it crosses the Indian-Sri Lankan border. However, Hameed's gang is caught by the police and, while fleeing, Hameed's car rolls over, killing Jakka Reddy and leaving Hameed gravely injured. Shekhawat learns from him that the sandalwood was destined for Japan and that Pushpa was going to receive the money through hawala. Hameed was the only person who knew the name of the Japanese broker who would ensure the money was delivered to Pushpa, but before revealing the broker's name, he is killed by Shekhawat.
Shekhawat then breaks the connection between Pushpa, the original consignment, and Japan. To obtain the money for the consignment, Pushpa prepares to travel to Japan by stowing away in a ship container. Upon reaching Yokohama Port, he fights the yakuza, bringing the story back to the beginning of the film. After Pushpa is shot and falls into the sea, he resurfaces and proves to the Japanese boss, Hiroshi, that he is the owner of the sandalwood consignment. Eventually, Hiroshi delivers the money to Pushpa and asks him to deal directly with him in future, thereby removing all the brokers and strengthening the partnership between India and Japan. Pushpa uses the money to make Siddappa the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, as promised. He then goes to Jaali Reddy's house to mourn the death of Jakka Reddy. Pushpa tries to negotiate with Jaali; however, the latter ignores him and continues their rivalry. When he was about to be exposed for seizing fake sandalwood, Shekhawat became enraged and revealed to others that he had fallen into the fire and died while burning down the warehouse.
As Pushpa, Siddappa, and his gang celebrate, tragedy strikes again when Kaveri is kidnapped and assaulted by Bugga Reddy, who seeks revenge for his humiliation at the Jathara festival. It is later revealed that Bugga Reddy is the nephew of Minister Veera Pratap Reddy, who tries to negotiate with Pushpa to leave Bugga alone. However, a furious Pushpa rescues Kaveri and brutally kills Bugga and his gang, along with Subba Reddy, Bugga's father and Pratap Reddy's younger brother. At their funeral, Pratap Reddy, along with Srinu, Dakshayani, Jaali Reddy, Murugan, and the others, swears revenge against Pushpa. Pratap Reddy then asks about an important mysterious person, as he was not present at the funeral. Pushpa's elder brother, Mohan, later apologises to Pushpa and his family for all the mistreatment he caused and invites them to Kaveri's wedding, fully accepting them as his family.
In a post-credits scene, As Pushpa reconciles with his estranged family at Kaveri's wedding, the mysterious figure detonates a bomb at the wedding. That mysterious person could be Bhanwar Singh Shekhavat.