Kapoor had her breakthrough playing a singer in the commercially successful romantic musical Aashiqui 2 (2013), for which she received a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress.

Kapoor established herself with starring roles in the romantic thriller Ek Villain (2014), the dance drama ABCD 2 (2015) and the action film Baaghi (2016).

[2][3][4] In an interview with The Hindustan Times, Kapoor revealed that, she was raised in a Marathi cultural setting as her maternal relatives lived in Maharashtra.

[14] Kapoor then enrolled in Boston University to major in psychology,[15] but she left in her first year to appear in her debut film after she was seen on Facebook by producer Ambika Hinduja, who cast her for a role in Teen Patti.

[23][24] Kapoor made her acting debut in the 2010 thriller Teen Patti, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Ben Kingsley and R. Madhavan.

"[25] Nikhat Kazmi reviewed: "Shraddha Kapoor makes an interesting debut as the edgy youngster who sheds her specs for sleaze, with alacrity.

"[26] The film failed to do well at the box office; however Kapoor's performance earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut.

[27][28][29] Kapoor admitted that after her debut film’s failure, she faced a "dull phase" in her career as production houses were hesitant to collaborate with her, leaving her without work.

[30] After her debut, she signed a three-film deal with Yash Raj Films and featured in their 2011 teen comedy Luv Ka The End, with Taaha Shah.

[35] Kapoor was subsequently offered the lead female role in Aurangzeb (2013) as a part of her deal with Yash Raj Films.

[36][37] Film critic Anupama Chopra called Kapoor a "real triumph" and added that her "porcelain face has a haunting vulnerability".

[43] In her review, Raedita Tandon of Filmfare called the film a "gritty, engaging thriller", and stated that Kapoor was a revelation in it.

[45] Her second release that year was Vishal Bhardwaj's highly acclaimed ensemble drama Haider, an adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet, set during the Kashmir conflict of 1995.

Writing for Deccan Chronicle, critic Kusumita Das praised Kapoor's effort in capturing the varied nuances of her character and noted that her portrayal was "surprisingly composed".

[52] Kapoor began 2016 by featuring as star Tiger Shroff's love interest in the action film Baaghi, about a pair of rebellious lovers set against the backdrop of a martial arts school.

[63] A remake of Mani Ratnam's Tamil romantic drama O Kadhal Kanmani (2015), the film was produced by Karan Johar under the banner of Dharma Productions.

In a review of the latter film, Raja Sen of NDTV considered it to be a "preposterously dimwitted romance" and criticised Kapoor as "shrill and insubstantial".

[66] Later in 2017, Kapoor appeared in Apoorva Lakhia's Haseena Parkar, a biopic of terrorist Dawood Ibrahim's sister, who ran a crime ring of her own.

[67] The film was panned by critics upon release;[68] Anna M. M. Vetticad of Firstpost considered Kapoor's performance to be as "bland as the screenplay", adding "she tries to appear mature and menacing, but the effort shows too much".

[72] Based on the legend of Nale Ba, the film featured her as a mysterious, unnamed woman who falls in love with Rao's character.

[73] The critic Saibal Chatterjee took note of the film's feminist subtext and found Kapoor to be "suitably icy as the enigmatic woman".

[80] Kapoor was committed to star in a biopic of badminton player Saina Nehwal, directed by Amole Gupte, but after filming for a few days she opted out of the project citing a scheduling conflict.

[90] Udita Jhunjhunwala of Mint labelled it a "lively homage to hostel life" and added "in spite of a sketchy role, Kapoor delivers a moving and likeable performance".

[92] Kapoor began the new decade by reuniting with Dhawan in the dance film Street Dancer 3D (2020), which Namrata Joshi termed a "compilation of indistinguishable performances".

[96][97][98] WION's Shomini Sen called the film "an assault to the brain" and criticised the stereotypical portrayal of Kapoor's character being a "liberated woman" that has to be "foul-mouthed, aggressive and glamorous".

[100] Hindustan Times' Monika Rawal Kukreja praised her styling and look, adding that she "delivers a very controlled performance though she goes a bit overboard in the emotionally charged scenes".

[112][113][114] Kapoor is the brand ambassador of several products, including Lakmé, Veet, Lipton, Marico's Hair & Care and many others.