After appearing in print media and television commercials, Yasmin first worked as an actress in Thiagarajan Kumararaja's gangster film Aaranya Kaandam (2011).
[4] Yasmin later made her acting debut in Thiagarajan Kumararaja's Tamil gangster film Aaranya Kaandam (2011), after being approached by the director who had spotted her face on a hoarding in Chennai.
Yasmin won rave reviews for her portrayal of Subbu, with Sify.com stating she "is fantastic in her debut role" and "she brings out the innocence and the cunning cruelty of the character very well".
[8] Likewise, Rediff.com noted "Yasmin Ponnappa makes you gnash her teeth as the dumb blonde but it's a measure of her success that you feel the exasperation".
[9] Later entertainment portals Fully Filmy and Behindwoods both listed Yasmin's role in the film as amongst the strongest female characters ever written in Tamil cinema.