Sharma says she originally wished to make it big in the modeling world but had no strong aspirations for films. She began her modeling career at the Lakme Fashion Week as a model for Wendell Rodricks's Les Vamps Show and was picked to be Rodricks's finale model at the Spring Summer '07 Collection. Since then she has done campaigns for Silk & Shine, Whisper, Nathella Jewelry and Fiat Palio.
Her first acting role was in Aditya Chopra's Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi (2008) opposite Shahrukh Khan. Her performance was appreciated with film critic Taran Adarsh stating, "Anushka looks the character and surprises you with a confident performance. It's no small achievement to share screen space with an actor of the caliber of SRK and Anushka manages it very well from start to end." Her second film, Badmaash Company, also under Yash Raj Films, was released on May 7, 2010. While Taran Adarsh added, "Anushka is a revelation. She looks stunning, her performance is livewire and the chemistry with Shahid is electrifying."
"I was very young when I was in RNBDJ and that journey had enabled me as an actor. I am not very confident of my growth as an actor but I am very confident of my growth as a person."
—Sharma talking about her journey from Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi to Band Baaja Baaraat.
In 2010, Sharma completed her three-film contract with Yash Raj Films, starring in Band Baaja Baaraat, a romantic comedy directed by Maneesh Sharma and co-starring debutant Ranveer Singh. She played a middle-class Delhi-Punjabi girl who goes on to launch her own independent business of wedding planning and later falls for her partner. In preparation for the part, Sharma was required to master the dialect of a young Punjabi woman from Delhi. She cited it as the toughest part of her role, describing the way the lead characters in the film interact as "crude but cute", and calling for her to "talk fast, sometimes mix words and even omit words completely". Prior to its release, she referred to it as her "best film till date".Some pundits, however, had expressed doubts about the film's prospects to leave a mark, citing the middling response to Yash Raj Films' last few productions, the lack of a male star, and claiming that by then Sharma was an "almost-forgotten" actress.
Band Baaja Baaraat was released on December 10, 2010 to positive reviews and went on to become a sleeper hit. Box Office India website reported that the film grossed approximately INR 21.44 crore after five weeks, making it a moderate box office success. Sharma's performance was praised by critics, many of whom called it her best work up to that point. Taran Adarsh described her as "truly wonderful," noting that it is "the first time in her 3-film career, a film rests mainly on Anushka's shoulders, and she handles the responsibility so well."For her work in the film, Sharma received her second nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress and earned several awards and nominations at different award ceremonies.
In December 2009, she began shooting for Patiala House, her first venture outside of Yash Raj with Nikhil Advani and Akshay Kumar. Patiala House was released on February 11, 2011.[17] Despite the film's lukewarm performance at the box office, Sharma received positive reviews. Nikhat Kazmi of The Times Of India wrote, "Anushka Sharma’s vivacity may have an after taste of her bubbling Band Baaja Baraat act but her passage from Janakpuri’s dhinchak girl to Southall’s siren is sweet and smooth. Watch out for the girl; she’s truly on a roll."
As of June 2011, she is set to re-unite with her Band Baaja Baarat gang Ranveer Singh and Maneesh Sharma for Yashraj Films's December 2011 release Ladies vs Ricky Bahl.
Anushka Sharma
