Beginning as a stage actor, he appeared in the first film ever made in Assamese cinema, Joymati, in 1935.

In 1933 Phani Sarma starred in the first Assamese film, Joymati, directed by Jyoti Prasad Agarwala.

His last film was Ito Sito Bahuto in 1963 where he appeared as an actor rather than taking the director's helm.

Inspired by his own experiences as an actor and the death of his son whilst stage acting, Phani Sarma wrote the social drama Kiya, a tale of an artist entertained other people with very little compensation from society.

B. Priestley's famous drama An Inspector Calls into the Assamese language.