Early work and breakthrough (2010–2015) '' in 2013|left|upright Kapoor made her acting debut in the 2010 thriller
Teen Patti, alongside
Amitabh Bachchan,
Ben Kingsley and
R. Madhavan. She played the role of a college girl. The film received generally negative reviews, though her performance was better received. Preeti Arora, writing for
Rediff.com said, "though a bit raw, she has a lot of potential."
Nikhat Kazmi reviewed: "Shraddha Kapoor makes an interesting debut as the edgy youngster who sheds her specs for sleaze, with alacrity." The film failed to do well at the box office; however Kapoor's performance earned her a nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Kapoor admitted that after her debut film’s failure, she faced a "dull phase" in her career as production houses were hesitant to collaborate with her, leaving her without work. After her debut, she signed a three-film deal with
Yash Raj Films and featured in their 2011 teen comedy
Luv Ka The End, with
Taaha Shah. The film underperformed at the box office and received mixed reviews from critics. However, Kapoor's performance received positive critical reviews.
Taran Adarsh wrote: "Shraddha is a revelation, catching you unaware with a confident performance. She's electrifying in the sequence when she breaks down after getting to know the true intentions of her lover." For her performance, Kapoor received the
Stardust Searchlight Award for Best Actress. Kapoor was subsequently offered the lead female role in
Aurangzeb (2013) as a part of her deal with Yash Raj Films. However, she signed on to
Vishesh Films'
Aashiqui 2 (2013) instead, thereby cancelling the three-film contract with Yash Raj Films. In 2013, Kapoor found her breakthrough role in
Mohit Suri's romantic musical
Aashiqui 2, the sequel to the 1990 film
Aashiqui. She was cast as Aarohi Keshav Shirke, a small-town bar singer who becomes a successful playback artist with the help of a popular male singer (played by
Aditya Roy Kapur). The film was a box office success with a global revenue of . Film critic
Anupama Chopra called Kapoor a "real triumph" and added that her "porcelain face has a haunting vulnerability". However, Vinayak Chakravorty of
India Today wrote that she "looks pretty though fails to add spark". Kapoor received several nominations in the Best Actress category, including her first at the
Filmfare Awards. The same year, she also appeared in a guest appearance for the romantic comedy
Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, playing the fiancée of
Imran Khan's character. Kapoor next reunited with Suri for the romantic thriller
Ek Villain (2014), in which she also made her singing debut with the song "Galliyan". The film tells the story of a hardened criminal (played by
Sidharth Malhotra) whose terminally-ill wife (played by Kapoor) is brutally murdered by a serial killer (played by
Riteish Deshmukh). The film was generally perceived to be plagiarised from the
Korean film I Saw the Devil (2010), although Suri claimed that it was an original film. In her review, Raedita Tandon of
Filmfare called the film a "gritty, engaging thriller", and stated that Kapoor was a revelation in it. The film eventually emerged as a major commercial success with domestic revenues of over . Her second release that year was
Vishal Bhardwaj's highly acclaimed ensemble drama
Haider, an adaptation of
William Shakespeare's
Hamlet, set during the
Kashmir conflict of 1995. She played the
Ophelia-based character, a journalist named Arshia, opposite
Shahid Kapoor and
Tabu. Writing for
Deccan Chronicle, critic Kusumita Das praised Kapoor's effort in capturing the varied nuances of her character and noted that her portrayal was "surprisingly composed". Also that year, Kapoor performed an
item number "Dance Basanti" in the
Karan Johar-produced thriller
Ungli. In 2015, Kapoor starred in a sequel to the dance film
ABCD: Any Body Can Dance (2013), entitled
ABCD 2. She portrayed the role of Vinita Sharma, a hip-hop dancer who competes in an international hip-hop competition alongside her childhood friend (essayed by
Varun Dhawan). In preparation for her role, she learned different genres of dance form from choreographers
Prabhu Deva and
Remo D'Souza. Produced by
Walt Disney Pictures, the film earned worldwide to become her most widely-seen film to that point.
Career fluctuations (2016–2017) '' in 2016 Kapoor began 2016 by featuring as star
Tiger Shroff's love interest in the action film
Baaghi, about a pair of rebellious lovers set against the backdrop of a martial arts school. The role required her to practice
Kalaripayattu (a
martial art originating in the south of India). Shubhra Gupta of
The Indian Express considered her character in it to be dated, but thought that she played the romantic and action sequences "well enough". Commercially, the film performed well and collected a total of . Kapoor's final release in 2016 was the
rock musical drama
Rock On 2, a sequel to 2008's
Rock On!!. She was cast alongside
Farhan Akhtar,
Arjun Rampal and
Prachi Desai. She played the role of Jiah Sharma, an introverted singer and keyboard player, who suffers a neglectful relationship with her father. To prepare, she spent time reading books in isolation and undertook vocal training under the singer
Samantha Edwards.
Namrata Joshi of
The Hindu disliked the film and considered Kapoor's performance "self-consciously meek and submissive".
Rock On 2 did not recoup its investment, thus emerging as a commercial failure at the box office. In 2017, Kapoor starred in
Shaad Ali's romantic drama
Ok Jaanu, in her second collaboration with Aditya Roy Kapur. A remake of
Mani Ratnam's Tamil romantic drama
O Kadhal Kanmani (2015), the film was produced by
Karan Johar under the banner of
Dharma Productions. It received mixed reviews from critics and Kapoor's performance was generally noted as inferior to
Nithya Menen's. Kapoor next appeared in the romance
Half Girlfriend, in which she was paired opposite
Arjun Kapoor. It was based on
Chetan Bhagat's
novel of the same name, and reunited her with director Mohit Suri. In a review of the latter film, Raja Sen of
NDTV considered it to be a "preposterously dimwitted romance" and criticised Kapoor as "shrill and insubstantial". Later in 2017, Kapoor appeared in
Apoorva Lakhia's
Haseena Parkar, a biopic of terrorist
Dawood Ibrahim's sister, who ran a crime ring of her own. Kapoor played the titular role, alongside her brother
Siddhanth Kapoor, who essayed Ibrahim's character. The film was panned by critics upon release;
Anna M. M. Vetticad of
Firstpost considered Kapoor's performance to be as "bland as the screenplay", adding "she tries to appear mature and menacing, but the effort shows too much". None of her 2017 releases performed well at the box office.
Further commercial success (2018–present) Kapoor next starred opposite
Rajkummar Rao in the comedy horror
Stree (2018). Based on the legend of
Nale Ba, the film featured her as a mysterious, unnamed woman who falls in love with Rao's character. The critic Saibal Chatterjee took note of the film's
feminist subtext and found Kapoor to be "suitably icy as the enigmatic woman".
Rajeev Masand opined that she "blends in nicely as the alluring out-of-towner with an air of mystery around her". With gross earnings of over ,
Stree emerged as her highest-grossing release to that point. In the same year, Kapoor reteamed with Shahid Kapoor in
Batti Gul Meter Chalu, a
social problem film about electricity issues in rural India. She agreed to the project due to the social message she found in the script. Filming was marred with dispute when the studio
KriArj Entertainment failed to remunerate the crew. Following a brief hiatus, production resumed after
Bhushan Kumar took over the project. Writing for
India Today, Charu Thakur noted that Kapoor "needs to go a long way as far as her acting skills are concerned". Kapoor was committed to star in a biopic of badminton player
Saina Nehwal, directed by
Amole Gupte, but after filming for a few days she opted out of the project citing a scheduling conflict. She began 2019 by playing the leading lady opposite
Prabhas in
Sujeeth's action film
Saaho. Budgeted at , it is one of the
most expensive Indian films produced. Kapoor shot her portions in Telugu and Hindi languages. In a scathing review for
Mid-Day,
Mayank Shekhar dismissed her part as "rather pale and pointless". The Telugu version of the film did not perform well, but its Hindi version was a commercial success. Her next film release was
Nitesh Tiwari's
Chhichhore, a comedy-drama about college life, co-starring
Sushant Singh Rajput. Udita Jhunjhunwala of
Mint labelled it a "lively homage to hostel life" and added "in spite of a sketchy role, Kapoor delivers a moving and likeable performance". With a worldwide gross of over , the film emerged as one of her most successful. Kapoor began the new decade by reuniting with Dhawan in the dance film
Street Dancer 3D (2020), which Namrata Joshi termed a "compilation of indistinguishable performances". It failed at the box office. She then reteamed with Shroff in the spiritual sequel
Baaghi 3. The film was panned by critics and underperformed commercially as theatres were shut due to the
COVID-19 pandemic.
WION's Shomini Sen called the film "an assault to the brain" and criticised the stereotypical portrayal of Kapoor's character being a "liberated woman" that is "foul-mouthed, aggressive and glamorous". After a three-year hiatus, which she described as "unforeseen and forced" due to the pandemic, Kapoor starred alongside
Ranbir Kapoor in
Luv Ranjan's romantic comedy
Tu Jhoothi Main Makkaar (2023).
Hindustan Times' Monika Rawal Kukreja praised her styling and look, adding that she "delivers a very controlled performance though she goes a bit overboard in the emotionally charged scenes". It emerged as a moderate commercial success. In 2024, Kapoor reprised her role in the sequel
Stree 2, as part of the
Maddock Horror Comedy Universe. Writing for
Hindustan Times, Rishabh Suri was appreciative of Kapoor's performance but felt that she had been overshadowed by others in the ensemble due to her limited screen time, while Tushar Joshi of
India Today opined that she brought "the right blend of mystery and intrigue".
Stree 2 emerged as the
highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024 as well as the
seventh highest-grossing Hindi film of all time, with a worldwide gross of over . For her performance, Kapoor received her second Best Actress nomination at Filmfare.--> == Other work and media image ==