Early career (2005–2010)

In 2005,^[7] Laxmi made her film debut in the Tamil-language film Karka Kasadara.^[8] Subsequently, she appeared in a number of Tamil films, including the comedy film Kundakka Mandakka (2005) opposite R. Parthiban, Perarasu's action-masala flick Dharmapuri (2006) and the romance film Nenjai Thodu (2007). Valmiki (2005), opposite Shiva Rajkumar, marked her maiden film in Kannada.^[9]

In 2008, she began working in more serious films such as the drama film Velli Thirai, in which she played herself, and the action thriller Dhaam Dhoom, directed by Jeeva. She received positive feedback for her portrayal of a lawyer in the latter. A review from Behindwoods wrote: "The latter (Raai Laxmi) sizzles even as she is supposed to play the court professional who is caught in the web of smuggling drugs".^[10] She won her first Filmfare Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category.

She made her debut in Malayalam in 2007, starring in Rock n' Roll, opposite Mohanlal. She followed it up with several successful films such as Annan Thampi (2008), 2 Harihar Nagar (2009),^[11] Evidam Swargamanu (2009) opposite Mohanlal, and Chattambinadu (2009) opposite Mammootty. She appeared in three Tamil films in 2009, Muthirai, Vaamanan and Naan Avanillai 2.

In Vaamanan (2009), she played a glamorous supermodel.^[12] In 2010, she was seen in three films. She made special appearances during song sequences in two of them, In Ghost House Inn and Pen Singam and portrayed a cowgirl in the Tamil film Irumbukkottai Murattu Singam.^[12]

Public recognition and success (2011–2014)

Raai Lakshmi's first 2011 release was Christian Brothers. Her next two films were Tamil projects, the comedy horror Kanchana and the Venkat Prabhu-directed action thriller Mankatha, starring Ajith Kumar. She played a negative character in the latter, which was received positively by critics.^[13] Following Kanchana's success, she was signed on to reprise the role in its Kannada remake, Kalpana (2012).^[14] Her 2014 films were Irumbu Kuthirai, Aranmanai in Tamil and RajadhiRaja in Malayalam.

Recent work (2016–present)

In 2016, she signed two Tamil films, Bangalore Naatkal and Sowkarpettai.^[15][16] After a brief gap, she performed her second item number opposite Pawan Kalyan in his Telugu film Sardaar Gabbar Singh (2016).^[17] She debuted in the Hindi film Akira.^[18]

She signed to perform her fourth item number with Chiranjeevi in his 150th film Khaidi No. 150 (2017),^[19][20] and later in Motta Shiva Ketta Shiva (2017) in Tamil with Raghava Lawrence.^[21] Raai Laxmi portrayed the lead role in her second Hindi film Julie 2 (2017).

In 2018, she made her comeback to Malayalam cinema with the Mammootty starrer Oru Kuttanadan Blog.^[22]

In 2019, she starred in horror movies Where Is the Venkatalakshmi in Telugu then Neeya 2 in Tamil that were failures.^[23][24] She also starred in the Bollywood film, Officer Arjun Singh IPS Batch 2000.^[25]

In 2021, she starred in the Tamil horror movie Cinderella.^[26]

Film

Television