[1] She made her acting debut with the film Yuvakudu (2000) and subsequently became one of the leading female stars of Telugu cinema during the early 2000s.

[2] Her notable films include Kushi (2001), Okkadu (2003), Simhadri (2003), Tere Naam (2003), Jai Chiranjeeva (2005), Sillunu Oru Kaadhal (2006), Anasuya (2007), and Middle Class Abbayi (2017).

[3][4] [5] Chawla was on born 21 August 1978 to a Punjabi Hindu family in New Delhi, India and completed her schooling there.

She moved to Mumbai in 1997 and started her career with Ad films and Hindi music video albums.

In 2006, Chawla appeared in the Tamil film Sillunu Oru Kaadhal, alongside real-life couple Surya and Jyothika which became a big hit worldwide.

[14][15] Chawla married her long-time boyfriend and yoga teacher, Bharat Thakur, on 21 October 2007 at Devlali, Nashik in a Gurdwara.