Pushpa: The Rise is a 2021 Indian Telugu-language action drama film directed by Sukumar and produced by Mythri Movie Makers, together with Muttamsetty Media.

The first installment in the Pushpa film series, it stars Allu Arjun in the titular role, alongside Rashmika Mandanna, Fahadh Faasil (in his Telugu debut), Jagadeesh Prathap Bandari, Dhananjaya, Sunil, and Ajay Ghosh.

The film follows Pushpa, a daily wage labourer who rises through the ranks of a syndicate involved in smuggling red sandalwood, a rare wood found only in the Seshachalam Hills of Andhra Pradesh.

Pushpa: The Rise was released worldwide on 17 December 2021 in theatres to mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances, action choreography, cinematography, direction, dialogues, and soundtrack but criticised the runtime, screenplay and editing.

[16][d] The film was expected to begin in January 2019, but, in that March, Babu walked out of Sukumar's project, citing creative differences, and he confirmed this through Twitter.

"[23] Sukumar described the storyline as follows: "The red sanders heist in the hills of Andhra is a convoluted nexus that unfurls in the course of the narrative through a coolie-turned-smuggler.

[25] He personally went for location scouting across Nallamala Hills, as the film is set in Rayalaseema and Nellore, and the plot revolves around red sanders smuggling.

[30] Allu Arjun played the titular character Pushpa Raj, a red-sanders smuggler, and sported a bearded look for his role in the film.

[31] Rashmika Mandanna was cast as the film's lead actress,[32] with an official announcement made on Allu Arjun's birthday (8 April 2019).

[36][37] Vijay Sethupathi entered talks to play the antagonist in October 2019, having worked with Sukumar in the director's production venture Uppena (2021),[38][39] and was confirmed to be part of the film in January 2020.

[74] The team then moved to Rajahmundry in December 2020 to shoot key sequences, but that was postponed to January 2021, as twelve crew members working on the film were diagnosed with COVID-19.

[78] The shooting of the film was put on hold due to restrictions following the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in India,[79] and Allu Arjun was also diagnosed with COVID-19 in late April.

[88] After a month-long production, on 4 October, the team started shooting face-off scenes between Allu Arjun and Fahadh Faasil.

[91] Speaking to the media at a promotional event of the Tamil version in Chennai, Allu Arjun said that "We had about 400–500 cars in the forest that would take us from point A to B.

[115] Initially Karan Johar's Dharma Productions was reported to have acquired the distribution rights, to present and promote the Hindi version of the film in North Indian theatres.

[120] The film was distributed in Tamil Nadu by Lyca Productions and Sri Lakshmi Movies, Swagath Enterprises in Karnataka[121] and by E4 Entertainments in Kerala.

[129] Pushpa: The Rise received generally mixed reviews from critics, who praised the performances, action choreography, cinematography, direction, dialogues, and soundtrack but criticised the runtime, screenplay and editing.

[135] Deccan Chronicle gave the film 3 out of 5 stars, and called it a "one-man show" referring to lead actor Allu Arjun.

"[139] Haricharan Pudipeddi of Hindustan Times called it "Ahaa Oho", writing, "At three-hour-long, Pushpa manages to stay engaging for the most part and never makes sitting through the film tiring.

It's a character-driven story and Sukumar needs to be lauded for effectively establishing the character of Pushpa, whose growth couldn't have been handled more satisfyingly.

"[140] News18 praised the performances, action sequences and soundtrack writing "Overall, the film is a massy entertainer with a decent storyline and is custom-made for Allu Arjun's fans.

[142] Praising the work of cast and crew, a reviewer from Eenadu opined that Sukumar should have re-thought the runtime and spent more time in the post-production.

[144] Writing for The News Minute, Sowmya Rajendran said: "Allu Arjun is immensely likable on screen and that keeps Pushpa going despite its lengthy runtime of three hours.

"[146] Calling it a "mixed bag", Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of The Hindu, wrote, "Pushpa – The Rise is riveting in some segments and bland in others.

[148] Karthik Keramalu of The Quint rated the film 2.5 out of 5 stars and wrote "The meat of the story doesn't have enough protein to sustain a sequel.

[149] Anji Shetty of Sakshi appreciated the red sandalwood backdrop and Allu's characterisation but felt that the story was predictable and the climax with Fahadh was a disappointment.

[150] In her review for BBC Telugu, Sahiti stated Sukumar deviated from his usual style of filmmaking and opted for flat narrative in Pushpa which was one of the film's downsides.

[151] A News 18 Hindi reviewer also felt the same, she added Mandanna's role was very dull and director doesn't dwell onto how ordinary kid like Pushpa grows up to a goon of his village.

[165] In a Facebook post dated 27 August 2020, Gangadhar stated that the storyline which is based on red sandalwood smuggling, was plagiarised from his short story titled "Coolie" written for Sakshi newspaper which was published two years earlier.

[169] One of the dialogues from the film, "Thaggede Le" ("Jhukega Nahi Saala" [I won't back down] in Hindi version) achieved the cult status and made a huge impact in the Indian pop culture scene.