She moved to Mumbai in 1997 & started her career with ad films & Hindi music video albums. She also appeared in the Zee Tv serial Hip Hip Hurray.
Chawla started off her film career in the Tollywood film industry, starring in the feature film Yuvakudu in Telugu. Her second film Khushi with Pavan Kalyan was a super hit in Telugu. She got the 'Best Actress Award' for this film.
After a number of critically & commercially successful films, she made her debut in Hindi films with "Tere Naam" opposite Salman Khan. It was superhit. After that her one more film released in this year Run opposite Abhishek Bachchan. She won Zee Cine Best New Comer Award for the film "Tere Naam".
She said her ambition is to win a National Award for Best Actress after winning the hearts of audiences, with the support and appreciation of colleagues of Cinema field. She married Bharat Thakur on October 21 2007.
