[1][2][3] Hailing from, Benarus, Uttar Pradesh[3][4] Smriti Mishras who was a kathak exponent made her cinema debut at the age of 23,[5] through the film Jaya Ganga (1996).
Her other release in the same year Is Raat Ki Subah Nahin (1996), featured in Avijit Ghosh's book, "40 Retakes: Bollywood Classics You May Have Missed".
In the 2002 documentary film India: Kingdom of the Tiger (2002), she appeared as an Indian woman who assists Jim Corbett played by Christopher Heyerdahl.
[12] 2005 release, Kal: Yesterday and Tomorrow (2005) screened at Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian Cinema.
[13] She then acted in Mitsein directed by Los Angeles based-Indian born Aparna Malladi which is about Moksha, a young woman who leaves India for the US after an arranged marriage.