Shetty made her acting debut in 2015 with the Nikhil Advani-directed romantic action film Hero, a remake of co-producer Subhash Ghai's 1983 classic of the same name. Produced by Salman Khan and co-written by Advani and Umesh Bist, the film earned a total revenue of ₹34.82 crore (US$4.1 million).[10] She portrayed the role of Mumbai-based aspiring dancer Radha Mathur, who falls in love with her kidnapper Sooraj (Sooraj Pancholi), a gangster trying to extort her police chief father, IG Shrikant Mathur. Bollywood Hungama, a leading website of India, wrote that ″Shetty needs some more time to improve her acting skills″.[11] After her debut, she became the brand ambassador for the Indian franchise of Maybelline New York[12] and featured in the Indian edition of high-profile magazine covers such as Cosmopolitan, Verve, Harper's Bazaar and many more.[13][14][15]
After a brief period of 2 years, Shetty appeared in Anees Bazmee's romantic comedy Mubarakan opposite Anil Kapoor, Arjun Kapoor and Ileana D'Cruz. The film, shot in Punjab and London, was a box office hit, though perceived to be a failure, and earned 93.59 crores. In the film, she played the role of a simple Punjabi girl named Binkle Sandhu who falls in love with Charan (Arjun Kapoor) but her wedding is instead fixed with Charan's twin brother Karan, who wants to marry his love interest Sweety (D'Cruz). Shetty received positive to mixed reviews for her performance in the film, though the film received mixed to negative reviews. She then appeared in a song, "Tere Naal Nachna", in 2018, composed, written and sung by Badshah, and featuring newbie singer Sunanda Sharma, for the film Nawabzaade, produced by Remo D'Souza and directed by choreographer Jayesh Pradhan, starring Raghav Juyal, Dharmesh Yelande and Punit Pathak.[16]
Later on, in 2019, Shetty was cast as Anita "Ani" Awasthi, a young woman who is desperate to settle abroad by marrying an NRI, in Debamitra Biswal's comedy drama Motichoor Chaknachoor, opposite Nawazuddin Siddiqui.[17] The film opened to mixed reviews.[18]
Personal life
Shetty married her long time partner, Indian cricketer KL Rahul on 23 January 2023.[19][20] On 8 November 2024, the couple announced their first pregnancy.[21]
^KBR, Upala (8 November 2010) (8 November 2010). "Sunil Shetty had a swell Diwali". Mid-Day. Archived from the original on 24 December 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)