Television career and breakthrough (2006-2008) '''s set In 2006, Desai got selected to play the lead role in
Ekta Kapoor's television drama,
Kasamh Se. Desai played Bani Dixit Walia, opposite
Ram Kapoor. In her acting debut, Desai won her praises and earned several awards, including the
Indian Telly Award for Best Actress in a Lead Role. In the same show, she also played Anamika Dixit Randheria opposite
Sumeet Vyas. In 2007, Desai entered
Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa, the Indian version of BBC
Strictly Come Dancing with choreographer Deepak Singh. Desai was eliminated on 10 November 2007, but entered the contest again via a wildcard entry and ultimately won the competition. Desai also appeared in two episodes of the Star Plus television series
Kasauti Zindagi Ki in a cameo. She portrayed a student at Prerna's school.
Expansion to films and success (2008-2017) Desai then made the transition to the film industry in 2008. She made her film debut with
Rock On!! (2008), directed by
Abhishek Kapoor, where she played Sakshi, a band singer wife opposite
Farhan Akhtar. Next year, she played Prachi opposite
Tusshar Kapoor in
Life Partner, a box office average. Desai's career marked a significant turning point in 2010, when she appeared in
Once Upon a Time in Mumbaai. The film saw her play Mumtaz, a character based on Mehjabin Shaikh, opposite
Emraan Hashmi. It emerged a box office success and earned her a nomination for the
Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the
IIFA Award for Best Supporting Actress. Kaveree Bamzai from
India Today opined, "Prachi Desai as Shoaib's girlfriend, is suitably tremulous and pleading." '' in 2010 In 2012, she appeared in
Teri Meri Kahaani as Radhika, opposite
Shahid Kapoor.
Taran Adarsh found her cameo appearance to be "sparkling". Desai then played Radhika, an educated modern girl in
Bol Bachchan, opposite
Abhishek Bachchan. The film proved to be Desai's biggest box office success until date. Devesh Sharma of
Filmfare noted, "Prachi Desai is reduced to sisterly bits". Desai had two releases in 2013. She first played a stylist Gauri, in
I, Me Aur Main, opposite
John Abraham. Nishi Tiwar of
Rediff.com said that Desai went "overboard" in her portrayal of a girl-next-door. She next appeared opposite
Sanjay Dutt, in
Policegiri. The film received negative reviews and Sarit Ray of
Hindustan Times found her role to be "irrelevant". In 2014, Desai appeared in a special number for
Ek Villain, in a song named "Awari". Post a small hiatus, Desai played former cricket captain
Mohammad Azharuddin's wife, Naureen in his biopic film,
Azhar opposite Emraan Hashmi. The film emerged a commercial failure, but
Anna MM Vetticad of
Firstpost found her Naureen to be "controlled" and her heartbreak "believable". In the same year, Desai reprised Sakshi, opposite Farhan Akhtar in
Rock On 2, a sequel to
Rock On!!. In 2017, Desai played a robot in the short film
Carbon: The Story of Tomorrow opposite
Jackky Bhagnani.
Hiatus, return and streaming projects (2017-present) In 2021, Desai returned to films after a break of four years with
Silence... Can You Hear It?, where she played a police inspector Sanjana alongside
Manoj Bajpai. That year, she appeared in a music video, Rihaee with
Rohit Khandelwal. The song was well appreciated by the audience. Pragati Awasthi of
WION was appreciative of Desai's decent portrayal of a psychiatrist. In 2023, Desai appeared alongside
Naga Chaitanya, in
Dhootha , playing his PA, Amrutha. The series released in Telugu, marked her web debut. Neeshita Nyayapati of
Hindustan Times noted, "Prachi get a character that is anything but run-of-the-mill, even then she sink her teeth into it and does a good job." In 2024, Desai reprised Inspector Sanjana in
Silence 2: The Night Owl Bar Shootout, sequel to the 2021 film.
Saibal Chatterjee opined, "Prachi Desai manages to make the most of the limited bandwidth accorded to her." Desai is committed to star as a lead actress in the dark fantasy movie - Kosha, which is directed by Amman Advaita and produced by Abhay Raj Kanwar. == In the media ==