Chawla started off her film career in the Telugu film industry, starring in the feature film Yuvakudu (2000) alongside actor Sumanth. Her second release, Kushi (2001), in which she starred opposite Pawan Kalyan was a box office success, winning her the Filmfare Best Actress Award (Telugu) following which she acted in several films in Telugu, including Okkadu (2003) opposite Mahesh Babu and Simhadri (2003) opposite Jr. NTR, which became two of the year's highest grossers in Telugu.[2] Meanwhile, she made her debut in the Tamil film industry as well, starring in the film Badri (2001) opposite actor Vijay, which was followed by her second Tamil film Roja Kootam (2002).
