Hot Tamanna started her acting career in 2005 as a heroine in Chand Sa Roshan Chehra, her only Hindi film to date. The same year, she debuted in Telugu cinema in Sri, playing the leading female role opposite Manoj Kumar. In 2006, she made her debut in the Tamil film industry in Kedi, produced by A. M. Rathnam, along with Ravi Krishna and another newcomer, Ileana D'Cruz.In 2007, she had three releases. After her role in the unsuccessful Vyapari, she starred in the Sekhar Kammula-directed Telugu film Happy Days which received positive reviews and became her first major box office success. Her next release was the Tamil drama film Kalloori, directed by Balaji Sakthivel, that won her accolades and critical acclaim in Tamil as well.