Dwivedi made his acting debut in the crime comedy film
My Name Is Anthony Gonsalves (2008), directed by
E. Niwas. The film was a commercial failure at the box office. Reviewing the film, Patsy N of
Rediff.com noted that he "shows potential" in his performance. For the role, he received nominations for the
Filmfare Best Male Debut Award and the
Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow – Male. In 2010, Dwivedi appeared as part of the ensemble cast in
Mani Ratnam’s action-adventure film
Raavan. He played a character based on
Lakshmana from the
Ramayana. While the film was a commercial failure, Kaveree Bamzai of
India Today noted that he was "excellent" in his part. Dwivedi later acknowledged the film's poor box office performance but stated he viewed the role as a positive step for his career recognition. In 2011, Dwivedi appeared as a petty criminal in the ensemble crime film
Shor in the City. While the film received critical acclaim, it had a limited impact at the box office. Gaurav Malani of
The Times of India wrote that Dwivedi was "especially impressive in the concluding reels." His performance earned him a nomination for the
Stardust Award for Breakthrough Performance – Male. In 2012, Dwivedi starred in the erotic thriller
Hate Story, directed by
Vivek Agnihotri. The film was a commercial success. During production, Dwivedi sustained fractures to his arms and wrist while performing a stunt, which delayed his subsequent project,
Tamanchey. Released in 2014, the crime film
Tamanchey, co-starring
Richa Chadha, was both a critical and commercial failure. While some trade reports noted his performance, the film was largely panned, with Nandini Ramnath of
Scroll.in stating that it "fires blanks from start to finish." Citing a lack of acting opportunities, Dwivedi transitioned into film production by launching his production house, Saffron. His first production was the comedy
Veere Di Wedding (2018), co-produced with
Rhea Kapoor and
Ekta Kapoor. The film was a commercial success, grossing approximately 138 crore worldwide. In 2019, he produced the
Salman Khan-starrer
Dabangg 3, the third installment in the
Dabangg franchise. The same year, he produced the mythological television series
Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran for
Colors TV. Dwivedi returned to acting after six years by playing the role of a scheming banker in
Scam 1992. Directed by
Hansal Mehta, the series released on
Sony LIV and is about the life of stockbroker
Harshad Mehta (played by
Pratik Gandhi). He said that his background in finance helped him portray the part. The series became one of the most acclaimed and popular streaming productions of India and is amongst the highest rated show on IMDB. Film Companion’s Rahul Desai found Dwivedi “unrecognizable” in his part. He then appeared in the Netflix anthology film
Ankahi Kahaniya (2021), in a segment about infidelity directed by
Saket Chaudhary.
Anna M. M. Vetticad of
Firstpost bemoaned that his character of an unfaithful man needed better writing. Under his production company, Saffron Magicworks, Dwivedi next produced
Vikramaditya Motwane’s
screenlife thriller for
Netflix, named
CTRL, starring
Ananya Panday, which garnered critical acclaim and was the number 1 film on Netflix for two weeks. Nikhil Dwivedi has produced a high intensity Prison Drama inspired from a True Incident titled “Bandar" directed by
Anurag Kashyap and starring
Bobby Deol and
Sanya Malhotra. ==Personal life==