The story is set in a fantasy kingdom called Bhetala Desam which is ruled by an evil princes Yavvana Rani(Sridevi).On the other hand, Manoharudu(Vijay) is a daring fighter from one of the villages which is ruled by Yavvana Rani.
One of the major disappointments of Puli is the way Chimbu Devan executes the film. His narration lacks focus as he could not implement what was written on paper. The film is tediously long and takes for ever to wrap up. First half has no basic story and moves on Vijay and Shruthi Haasan’s romantic track. But "Puli" failed to meet the expectation of the Telugu audience. Though the lead actors’ performances and superb production elements impressed the viewers, the slow and dragging narration, which mars the beauty of "Puli", disappointed them. Some blame director Chimbu Deven for not executing the story well on screen.