Pushpa 2: The Rule is a 2024 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Sukumar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers in association with Sukumar Writings. A sequel to Pushpa: The Rise (2021), it is the second installment in the Pushpa film series. The film stars Allu Arjun in the titular role, alongside Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil, Jagapathi Babu, Sunil and Rao Ramesh. It follows Pushpa Raj, a labourer-turned-red sandalwood smuggler, as he faces growing threats from his enemies, including SP Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat.
The sequel was officially announced in December 2021, shortly before the release of the first film, with the title Pushpa 2 and later rebranded as Pushpa 2: The Rule with the release of the first film. Although a portion of the film was initially shot back-to-back with the first film, director Sukumar revised the storyline, leading to principal photography beginning in October 2022. The film features music composed by Devi Sri Prasad, cinematography by Mirosław Kuba Brożek, and editing by Naveen Nooli. Made on a budget of 400–500 crore, it is among the most expensive Indian films ever produced. With a runtime of 200–224 minutes, it is also one of the longest Indian films.
Pushpa 2: The Rule was released worldwide on 5 December 2024 in standard, IMAX, 4DX, D-Box and PVR ICE formats to mostly mixed-to-positive reviews from critics. The film was a major commercial success, grossing between 1642 and 1800 crores worldwide, making it the second highest-grossing film in India and the fourth-highest-grossing Indian film worldwide at the time of its release. A sequel, Pushpa 3: The Rampage, is in development.
Plot A consignment of red sandalwood arrives at the Yokohama port in Japan, where workers find Pushpa hidden inside a container. He attacks them and demands 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 become a respected smuggler, while Shekhawat goes into hiding. Shekhawat later disguises himself as a labourer and intercepts a major 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 overthrow the government and install Siddappa as Chief Minister, raising ₹500 crores through sandalwood smuggling.
Pushpa forms a deal with Central Minister Kogatam Veera Pratap Reddy and travels to Maldives to meet international buyer Hameed, agreeing to sell 2,000 tonnes of sandalwood for ₹5,000 crores. Several smugglers join his syndicate, but Mangalam Srinu, Dakshayani and Shekhawat plot against him. Shekhawat kills a syndicate member, frightening the others into urging Pushpa to surrender leadership to Srinu. Siddappa later attempts to settle the rivalry between Pushpa and Shekhawat by asking Pushpa to apologise, but Pushpa instead humiliates Shekhawat for being a corrupt cop. Shekhawat vows to seize every consignment of red sandalwood.
Pushpa nevertheless outmanoeuvres Shekhawat, transporting the sandalwood towards Chennai for shipment to Sri Lanka. Shekhawat intercepts the convoy and shoots at the trucks, forcing the drivers to flee. Although the media praises his raid, Srinu discovers that the seized wood is Sandra, a worthless substitute. Pushpa had secretly transported the genuine sandalwood in bullock carts, inadvertently using Shekhawat's raid as a diversion. Shekhawat asks Srinu to obtain one tonne of genuine sandalwood to deceive the examination committee and begins tracing Pushpa's original consignment. When reports claim the seized load was genuine, the syndicate panics and demands answers. Pushpa assures them that the real consignment is safe, revealing its location only to Jakka Reddy.
Meanwhile, Srivalli discovers that she is pregnant, delighting Pushpa. His happiness is disrupted when his niece, Kaveri, is assaulted during the Jathara festival by Bugga Reddy and his gang. Pushpa defeats and humiliates them. Shekhawat eventually traces the consignment to Rameswaram by spying on Jakka Reddy, but fails to intercept it before it crosses into Sri Lanka. Hameed's gang is subsequently pursued by police; Hameed's car rolls over, killing Jakka Reddy and seriously injuring Hameed. Hameed tells Shekhawat that the sandalwood is destined for Japan and that Pushpa will receive payment through hawala. Before Hameed can reveal the Japanese broker's identity, Shekhawat kills him, severing the link between Pushpa, the consignment and Japan.
To obtain his payment, Pushpa travels to Japan by hiding in a ship's container. At Yokohama Port, he fights the yakuza, returning the story to its opening. After being shot and falling into the sea, he resurfaces and proves to Japanese boss Hiroshi that he owns the sandalwood. Hiroshi pays him and proposes dealing with him directly in future, eliminating the brokers and strengthening their partnership. Pushpa uses the money to make Siddappa Chief Minister as promised.
Pushpa then visits Jaali Reddy to mourn Jakka Reddy's death, but Jaali rejects his attempt at reconciliation. Shekhawat, meanwhile, is enraged when his seizure of fake sandalwood is about to be exposed and tells others that he fell into a fire and died while burning down the warehouse.
As Pushpa, Siddappa and their allies celebrate, Bugga Reddy kidnaps and assaults Kaveri in revenge for his earlier humiliation. It is revealed that Bugga is the nephew of Minister Veera Pratap Reddy, who tries to persuade Pushpa to spare him. Pushpa rescues Kaveri and kills Bugga, his gang and Subba Reddy, Bugga's father and Pratap Reddy's younger brother. At their funeral, Pratap Reddy, Srinu, Dakshayani, Jaali Reddy, Murugan and the others swear revenge against Pushpa. Pratap Reddy also asks about a mysterious person who was absent from the funeral.
Mohan, Pushpa's elder brother, later apologises for his past mistreatment and accepts Pushpa and his family, inviting them to Kaveri's wedding. In a post-credits scene, as Pushpa reconciles with his estranged family at the wedding, the mysterious figure detonates a bomb. The figure could be Bhanwar Singh Shekhavat.
Cast
Production Development Before the release of Pushpa: The Rise in 2021, the film was announced to release in two parts, with the filmmakers stating that the maiden part would release that year, whereas the latter part would release the next year. Initially, 10% of the sequel's footage was shot back-to-back with the first part, however, Sukumar decided to alter the sequel's story. The scripting part of the film was completed by July 2022 in Hyderabad. The official title, Pushpa 2: The Rule, was announced at the end of Pushpa: The Rise. An inaugural muhurat puja ceremony was held on the same day in Hyderabad with the presence of the film's cast and crew.
Sukumar wrote the film's script while Srikanth Vissa wrote the dialogues. Sukumar further retained most of the technicians from previous part including cinematographer Miroslaw Kuba Brozek, editor Karthika Srinivas and Ruben, art director S. Ramakrishna and Monica Nigotre and sound designer Resul Pookutty and Vijay Kumar. Deepali Noor and Sheetal Sharma served as costume designers while Preetisheel Singh was hired as character designer. Peter Hein, Kecha Khamphakdee, Dragon Prakash and Nabakanta were hired as stunt directors. Dance choreographers of the film includes Prem Rakshith, Ganesh Acharya, Sekhar, Vijay Polaki and Shrashti Verma.
Casting Allu Arjun, Fahadh Faasil, Rashmika Mandanna, Dhananjaya, Rao Ramesh, Sunil, Anasuya Bharadwaj, Ajay Ghosh and other remaining actors from first part have reprised their respective roles, Jagapathi Babu was roped in for a pivotal role in April 2023. Jagadeesh Prathap Bandari rejoined the cast in February 2024, after he was given bail in suicide abetment case. Saurabh Sachdeva, Tarak Ponnappa, Satya and Adithya Menon were also reported to be the part of the film. Malaika Arora, Triptii Dimri, Janhvi Kapoor, Disha Patani and Shraddha Kapoor, were considered for the item number. However, Sreeleela was later finalised.
Filming Principal photography began with a test shoot on 30 October 2022 in Hyderabad. In January 2023, filming took place in Visakhapatnam. In March 2023, scenes were shot in Bangalore. Rumours were circulated that the shooting of the film was stopped as director was unsatisfied but later turned out to be false as shooting was again started after a few days.
In April 2023, forest scenes were shot in Malkangiri district of Odisha. Jagapathi Babu joined cast in April 2023. Fahadh Faasil joined the sets in May 2023 while Rashmika joined the sets in June 2023. On 3 June 2023, the bus carrying crew members met with an accident near the Vijayawada–Hyderabad Expressway. In July 2023, an action sequence was shot in Visakhapatnam Port including 50 stuntmen. In August 2023, scenes were shot in Ramoji Film City. In November 2023, the filming resumed in Hyderabad. In December 2023, the filming was postponed due to Allu Arjun's health.
In March 2024, scenes were shot in Vizag and Yaganti Temple. It was later reported that the makers spent 50–60 crore for the Gangamma Jatara performance and a fight sequence. In April 2024, an underwater sequence was shot in Hyderabad. In May 2024, it was reported that the film will have multiple endings and to maintain secrecy the makers opted the no phone policy on the film set. In July 2024, it was reported that shooting of film was delayed due to rift and creative differences between Allu Arjun and Sukumar, however they were later proven to be false rumours as shooting was restarted again in Hyderabad.
Sets depicting 1990s and 2000s Japan and Malaysia were recreated at Ramoji Film City, though there were plans to shoot on location, after the film's production crew conducted thorough recces in Bangkok, Malaysia, and Japan was conducted. It was determined that budget and time constraints prevented the location shoots from happening. In August 2024, the climax of the film was shot. Item number featuring Sreeleela was filmed in November 2024 in Hyderabad. The entire filming was wrapped by late November 2024.
Post-production The VFX of the film were provided by Makuta VFX; R.C. Kamalakannan served as the visual effects supervisor. Resul Pookutty and Vijay Kumar served as the sound designers. Shreyas Talpade and Jis Joy dubbed for Allu Arjun in the dubbed Hindi and Malayalam versions, respectively. In May 2024, both Ruben and Karthika Srinivas opted out of the film due to scheduling conflicts and creative differences, resulting in them being replaced by Naveen Nooli; Sukumar's earlier collaborator. The first half of the film was edited by October 2024. Rashmika completed dubbing for her portions by November 2024.
The final copy of the film was ready by late November 2024 and was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) that month. On 28 November 2024, the film received a U/A certificate from the Censor Board, with a finalised runtime of 200 minutes after few words and excessive violent scenes were censored.
Music