Abhirami made her debut in director
Adoor Gopalakrishnan's film
Kathapurushan. While in college, Abhirami worked as a TV anchor for the program
Top Ten which aired on the
Asianet channel, which according to Abhirami was "quite popular" and got her a film offer. She had a small role in the Malayalam film
Pathram in 1999 and in the series
Mercara directed by
Jude Attipetty. Later she acted in the films
Millennium Stars,
Njangal Santhushtaranu, and
Sradha before shifting to
Tamil cinema. Her first Tamil film was
Vaanavil (2000) opposite
Arjun, which was a "big hit" In 2003, she appeared opposite
Upendra in the film
Raktha Kanneeru and opposite
Shiva Rajkumar in
Sri Ram. In 2004, she retired from the film industry and settled in the
United States for her studies. She went on to work as the marketing director of an
MNC there. She went on to host
Rishimoolam, a talk show on the Tamil television channel
Puthuyugam. After a 10-year hiatus, she returned to the film industry in 2014 and acted in multiple films as a supporting actress until 2021 when she got a role as one of lead actresses in the film
Maara after 17 years. She also became a reality show judge through the show ''
Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li'l Champs (2023). She was cast in the supporting role in the action drama film Vettaiyan (2024) with Rajinikanth. Shen then appeared in the black comedy Jolly O Gymkhana (2024) as well as hyperlink thriller, Once Upon A Time in Madras'' (2024).{{Cite web |title=Once Upon a Time in Madras Movie Review: A missed opportunity for a narrative with explosive potential == Personal life ==