Inspired by the 1977 film Yamagola (also remade in Hindi as Lok Parlok (1979)), the plot follows Raja, a thief who is killed by his rivals.

Raja's soul travels to Naraka (hell) to face the trail for his sins by Yama, the Hindu god of death and justice.

Upon release, it received positive reviews from critics, it collected 29 crore, and emerged as a blockbuster.

12 years later, Mahi's family treats her like a slave while they enjoy the money that her grandfather left behind.

Raja is still a conman, but when he enters into the debt of Dhanalakshmi, a beautiful but not-so-innocent lender, he flees.

Chitragupta suggests to him that he must call the three celestial nymphs: Rambha, Urvashi, and Menaka, which he initially disagrees due to his wife's suspicion, but reluctantly agrees to defeat Raja in the election.

Yama neglects Chitragupta's pleas and orders Raja's grandfather to appear in front of his grandson.

Raja's grandfather motivates him and tells that he is blessed with the gift of dance, and he's the grandson of the man who made an alliance and won the elections with the support of the people.

Raja soon finds out about the cruelty that Mahi has suffered since his death and decides to fight back against her cruel family.

Raja is severely injured and falls off a cliff into the temple of Lord Narasimha in Simhachalam.

Raja begs for only half an hour of life only to rescue Mahi and apologises to Yama for his sins and all he has said and done.

Raja mockingly asks Yama whether he prefers Bhulokam or Yamalokam and cautions him to be safe from his wife.

In an interview with Telugucinema.com, Rajamouli revealed that the basic plot — where the hero dies and goes to Yamalokam and comes back to Earth — is inspired by the films Devanthakudu (1960) and Yamagola (1977) which starred Jr NTR's grandfather Sr. N.T.R.

[7][8] The film also features a scene with Jr NTR alongside his grandfather as an acknowledgement of Yamagola.

[8] Following the suggestion of Rajamouli, Jr NTR underwent extensive weight loss especially for the film.

She slipped while walking on the stones and got her ankle sprained with a minor bleeding injury during shooting.

[14] Scenes related to Naraka (or Yama Loka) were shot at a specially erected set at Ramoji Film City.

[22] Sify gave an "average" verdict explained "This socio-fantasy film works, thanks to the new look of NTR and enigmatic performance of Mohan Babu.

The songs and background score of MM Keeravani, the technical aspects and entertainer quotient in the first half make the film watchable".

On the flip side, the screenplay of the film is not gripping in second half (after NTR returns to earth).