Ganapatideva (
Krishnam Raju) is the emperor of the
Kakatiya dynasty who rules the Kakatiya Empire from
Orugallu (present day
Warangal, Telangana) as its capital city. There are only two threats to Ganapati's rule. Murari Devudu (
Adithya Menon) and Hari Hara Devudu (
Suman), dukes of Kakatiya, are both obviously unsatisfied with Ganapati's reign, and plot to usurp the throne. Emperor
Singhana of the Devagiri Empire also wishes to conquer the Kakatiyas and name his grandson and heir,
Mahadeva, as the king. Meanwhile, Ganapati's wife is pregnant and everyone prays for a boy child, because a prince can repel the Devagiri Empire and serve as a successor to the throne. A priest working for Murari and Hari Hara predicts Ganapati's baby will be a girl who will be the saviour of the kingdom. Ganapati's baby indeed turns out to be a girl,
Rudramadevi (
Anushka Shetty). Her birth disappoints Ganapati, who, being helpless, takes advice from his prime minister, Siva Devayya (
Prakash Raj), to announce the baby to be a boy – Rudradeva. Murari and Hari Hara go mad after hearing the news that Ganapati gets a prince, a successor to be of the crown; they then angrily kill the priest who predicted king's heir would be a girl. Rudrama's gender and real name are kept secret from everyone other than Ganapati, his wife, and Siva Devayya; even Rudramadevi herself does not know she's a girl in her childhood. She is then brought up and trained in a prince's manner. After a few years of training, Rudrama, who goes about as Rudradev is summoned back to Oragallu for her coronation as the crown prince. At her coronation, she befriends Chalukya Veerabhadra (
Rana Daggubati), a neighborhing prince, and forms a friendly rivalry with
Gona Ganna Reddy (
Allu Arjun), another neighboring prince. She sneaks out of the capital along with Chalukya to bathe in the river. She realizes her gender when she sees an elegant statue of a beautiful woman. After seeing the boys disrobe, she realizes that her body is different from theirs. She then runs to her mother angrily and confusedly to ask the reason for hiding her real gender; her mother confesses the story and tells her the reason was to protect the kingdom. In front of her parents and Siva Devayya, Rudrama swears to continue living as a boy until the kingdom's safety is assured. Years later, in a sporting event, Naga Devudu, the nephew of Murari and Hari Hara, fails to subdue a raging
elephant. Murari and Hari Hara challenge Rudradeva to defeat the elephant. Rudradeva who was Rudrama accepts, however she is unaware that Murari and Hari Hara have rigged the competition so no one can win. Despite this, Rudrama wins the challenge, that adored the by several princesses in the scene, including Muktamba.Younger sister Ganapamba spoke to Muktamba and the others with pride and admiration about her brave elder brother, Rudradeva. Gona Ganna Reddy, one of Rudrama's playmates in childhood and who was then thrown out of the palace and is now called a traitor, shows up in the scene to confront Rudrama. Gona is now the leader of an opposition army, which has been a threat to Ganapati's position. He manages to escape when Ganapati's army tries to arrest him. On the day of the Koumudi festival, Muktamba, Anambika, and Ganapamba were joyfully celebrating with drinks. During their merriment, Anambika shared her affection for Ganna Reddy, while Muktamba confessed her fondness for Rudradeva. Unbeknownst to them, Rudradeva was secretly watching it all. Suddenly, he went into a hidden chamber, removed all his battle armor, and transformed into Rudrama. She longed to celebrate the femininity that lived within her. After the festival celebration, he happens to see her emerging from the river after a dip. Still caught in the thought of being Rudradeva, she absentmindedly calls him “friend,” only to suddenly realize that she is now Rudhrama. Embarrassed, she blushes deeply. From the very first moment he sees her, he feels drawn to her. But Rudhramaa teasingly pushes him into the river and walks away. Ganapati, unable to escape from the pressure from inside and outside his palace, decides to get Rudrama married to a princess as being Rudradeva, and he chooses Muktamba. Then Chalukya forgot Rudradeva’s royal duties and lost himself in love. Being Rudrama, in her graceful form, she shared his affection but told him she would marry him only after he fulfilled the duties. Then Chalukya said he would complete them and return to her, affectionately holding her nose. She responded with a teasing smile. On their wedding night, Rudrama, in order to protect her secret, tells Muktamba that she has taken a vow of celibacy until the kingdom is safe. The conversation is tapped by a spy of Murari and Hari Hara, and she tells it to the two, making the secret and the fame of the Ganapati's family in danger. In a secluded spot by the riverside Chalukya lies absorbed in thoughts of love. Rudradeva approaches him and reprimands him for neglecting his duties, challenging him outright. He declares that if Chalukya can defeat him in a sword duel, he will help Chalukya marry the woman he loves. But if Chalukya loses, he must forget her and return to his responsibilities and he accepts the challenge, and the two engage in a long, intense fight. During the prolonged duel, Chalukya’s sword accidentally slashes through the middle of Rudradeva’s tunic. The force of the strike tears it open, revealing a woman’s torso wrapped in a breast-band and that blow also knocks Rudradevan off-balance; his headgear falls, and his tightly bound hair comes loose. In that instant, Chalukya's warrior friend Rudradeva suddenly becomes his love interest Rudradevi. Overwhelmed with shame and unable to hide the truth any longer, she admits her deception, guilt written all over her face..The two plan to reveal the secret and use it as an excuse to force Ganapati off the throne. However, before they can do so, Siva Devayya decides to reveal the secret to the people. When Ganapamba knows that her one long respected elder brother were revealed was a woman named Rudrama, she lovingly embraced her, gently held and pampered her chin like an elder sister's caring. Then Anambika and Muktamba adorned and dressed Rudrama as one of their own. Though she was the eldest among them, Rudrama behaved like the youngest. Because it was their first time celebrating together, she tried to hide the blush that colored her cheeks from shyness, but Anambika and Muktamba noticed and laughing as Rudrama, biting her nails in embarrassment, squirmed a little when Mukthaba lovingly tickled her on the waist. Once hidden behind the guise of Rudradeva, she now fully embraced her true nature of the shyness and beauty of womanhood. Those moments filled with love and joy became a cherished memory, of dance and celebration. Siva Devayya then announces Rudramadevi's real identity and her to be the queen of the kingdom. The people of Kakatiya, after knowing Ganapati has cheated them for many years, become angry and unsatisfied and strongly object. Rudramadevi is not accepted by the people to be their queen and is hence driven out of the kingdom. Ganapati also loses the trust and support of his people because of this. Murari and Hari Hara take this chance to launch a coup using the secret passageway. They then proclaim that they will rule Oragallu in Mahadeva's name, while maintaining their own power. Before Murari and Hari Hara can kill Siva Devayya, he has a heart attack and dies. It doesn't take too long for the people to realize that who deserves to rule the kingdom, as Murari and Hari Hara start to prosecute them with higher tax rates and unprecedented cruelty and aristocracy soon after they take power. The desperate people, along with Siva Devayya (who faked his death), then turn to Rudramadevi to apologize and for help. Rudramadevi then forms these people as an opposition army to fight against her own kingdom's army. Rudramadevi and her army meet Gona Ganna Reddy's army on her way, which is surprisingly not about to attack her, but to help her get her crown back. It is revealed that Gona, who noticed Rudramadevi was a girl in their childhood, is not a traitor but a most loyal warrior of the kingdom. He had already expected that Rudramadevi would lose her power and be driven out of the kingdom one day, so he left the palace, pretending to be driven out for being a traitor, to form his own army to wait for the day. After they join hands, their united army is greater and stronger than that of Murari and Hari Hara and beats the latter. They also repel and defeat the Devagiri Empire. Rudramadevi then gets her crown back, marries Chalukya and becomes the first queen of South India. == Cast ==