Rishab Shetty cast her as Saanvi in Kirik Party (2016) opposite Rakshit Shetty. It became the year's highest-grossing Kannada film and won her the SIIMA Award for Best Debut Actress. Anjani Putra and Chamak (both 2017) were also successful.
She entered Telugu cinema with Chalo (2018). Her breakthrough came with Geetha Govindam (2018) opposite Vijay Deverakonda, her first film to cross ₹100 crore, which won her the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress – Telugu. She trained for five months to play a cricketer in Dear Comrade (2019). Sarileru Neekevvaru (with Mahesh Babu) and Bheeshma (both 2020) were commercial hits.
As Srivalli in Sukumar's Pushpa: The Rise (2021) with Allu Arjun, she won nationwide fame, helped by the song "Saami Saami". She played a supporting role in Sita Ramam (2022) and made her Hindi debut in Goodbye (2022), winning the Zee Cine Award for Best Female Debut. After Varisu and Mission Majnu (2023), she played Geetanjali in Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal (2023) opposite Ranbir Kapoor, which grossed over ₹900 crore.
Pushpa 2: The Rule (2024) earned over ₹1,800 crore worldwide and became her biggest hit, winning her the SIIMA Award for Best Actress – Telugu. In 2025 she played Maharani Yesubai opposite Vicky Kaushal in Chhaava (over ₹800 crore), which made her the first Indian actress with three films crossing ₹500 crore domestically. She also appeared in Sikandar, Kuberaa and Thamma. Her performance in The Girlfriend (2025) was acclaimed and won her another SIIMA Best Actress award.
She played Diya in the Hindi romance Cocktail 2 (19 June 2026) with Shahid Kapoor and Kriti Sanon. She then reunited with Vijay Deverakonda as Jayamma in the Telugu period drama Ranabaali (16 October 2026), which received mixed reviews. Her upcoming projects include Mysaa and Atlee's film with Allu Arjun.
1
1
1
1
1