Pushpa: The Rise – Part 1 follows the story of Pushpa Raj, a tough and fearless worker in the illegal red sandalwood smuggling industry. The smuggling of red sandalwood is rampant in the Seshachalam forest and it is taken to Chennai before being shipped to other countries like China and Japan....

Pushpa: The Rise – Part 1 follows the story of Pushpa Raj, a tough and fearless worker in the illegal red sandalwood smuggling industry. The smuggling of red sandalwood is rampant in the Seshachalam forest and it is taken to Chennai before being shipped to other countries like China and Japan. Pushpa Raj is the illegitimate child of Muletti Venkatraman, a wealthy landlord, who never accepted him or his mother Parvati Devi. After his death, his biological son throws them out of their home and they have to survive on their own. Pushpa struggles to find work and eventually discovers the lucrative but dangerous business of red sandalwood smuggling. He becomes a woodcutter in the industry but one day, the police raid the site while they were working. Pushpa becomes a hero as he single-handedly saves the precious red sandalwood from the police during a raid, and remains tight-lipped despite being beaten. Konda Reddy, who runs the smuggling business, is impressed by Pushpa's bravery and hires him as a laborer. When Konda finds out that Pushpa knows the secret hiding place of the wood, he sends his younger brothers to bail him out. Pushpa demands Rs. 5 lakhs as a condition to reveal the wood's location, which the brothers agree to. After this, Pushpa becomes an important member of Konda Reddy's gang, sharing innovative ways to transport the wood without attracting the police's attention. Meanwhile, Pushpa falls in love with Srivalli, a milk business owner. As the smuggling of red sandalwood continues, Pushpa finds out that Mangalam Srinu is the one who safely delivers the consignment to Chennai and earns a huge profit from it. He suggests that Srinu should be paid more, but Konda Reddy is hesitant to do so as it may affect their relationship. Pushpa goes to Srinu to talk to him, but things go wrong and a feud between the two gangs begins, leading to a violent conflict. The outcome of this conflict forms the remaining plot of the film.