2000–2004

Fazil Nazeem recommended Sneha to Anil-Babu who was searching for a heroine for his love story Ingane Oru Nilapakshi (2000). The film featured Sneha as an aspiring dancer, with the actress performing for seven classical songs.^[8] She was signed by Susi Ganeshan for his directorial debut Virumbugiren in 2000, which however became long delayed and Ennavale, opposite Madhavan, became her first Tamil release. She started the year 2001 with a foray into Telugu cinema, with an appearance in Priyamaina Neeku, followed by N. Linguswamy's family drama Aanandham. She was then seen in K. Balachandar's Parthale Paravasam and the Telugu film Tholi Valapu, which went unnoticed. M. Raja's Hanuman Junction became a major success.^[9]

She was a part of eight films that were released in 2002. The films that year included Punnagai Desam, the Vasanth's Yai! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukey!, Unnai Ninaithu and April Madhathil. The film failed at the box office while critics and audience raved at the music of the film.^[10] Her performance in Unnai Ninaithu led to her being awarded the first Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actress.^[11] She also won other awards for her performance. Subsequently, she acted in a lead role in King and a supporting role in Pammal K. Sambandam with Kamal Haasan and Abbas, respectively. Virumbugiren that featured Sneha as a rustic village belle, eventually released in December 2002 and went on to win the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress.^[12]

Sneha acted in two films in 2003, Vaseegara with Vijay and Parthiban Kanavu. She received high praise for her performance in Parthiban Kanavu,^[13] with The Hindu writing: "Till date this is the best role that has come Sneha's way and the charming actress has utilised the opportunity well. With make-up or without it, Sneha sparkles".^[14]

2004 was a mixed year for the actress, with Jana, Bose and Adhu all failing at the box office. However, Vasool Raja MBBS, opposite Kamal Haasan and Autograph were successes.^[15]

2005–2008

The years 2005 and 2006 saw her acting in Telugu films such as Sankranthi, with Venkatesh, Radha Gopalam with Srikanth, Sri Ramadasu with Nagarjuna, and Thuruppu Gulan with Mammootty was a success, while others released in the respective years turning out as average grosser at the box office. She played a supporting role in Selvaraghavan's experimental film Pudhupettai, starring Dhanush. With Thuruppu Gulan, she paired with Mammootty. In the year 2006, she made her debut into Kannada film industry through Ravi Shastri,^[16] which released to negative reviews.^[17]

In 2007, Sneha starred in Naan Avanillai, Madhumasam, Maharadhi and Tamil film Pallikoodam released to positive reviews.^[18][19]

Pirivom Santhippom, which saw her collaborating with Karu Pazhaniappan again, was her first film in 2008. Co-starring Cheran. A review from Sify noted that she was "superb as Sala, a woman torn by the dualities of her existence", labelling it as her "career best performance".^[20] She won her second Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Actress, besides the Vijay Award for Best Actress and a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Actress Award. She tried highly glamorous roles with Pandi and Inba, both turning out to be average grossers. She paired with Silambarasan in Silambattam. Her Telugu films Nee Sukhame Ne Korukunna and Pandurangadu turned out to be average grossers while Adi Vishnu released to negative reviews.^[21]

2009–2012

The thriller films Achchamundu Achchamundu, co-starring Prasanna and Hollywood actor John Shea and Amaravathi, were her only releases of 2009 in Tamil and Telugu, respectively. Both films won many plaudits for dealing with bold themes of pedophiles and womb stealing, respectively. The former film won many awards internationally.^[22]

In 2010, she starred in Venkat Prabhu's Goa. She again forayed into a glamorous ultra-modern chick role with a few shades of grey. She also appeared in three Malayalam films. She acted in Pramani with Mammootty and paired up with Mohanlal for the first time in Shikkar, The Hunt, which was a huge success and considered as a milestone in Mohanlal's history. Her last release of 2011 was Vandae Maatharam. Starring opposite Mammootty again, she played an aviator in the film, which released to mixed critical response.^[23]

In 2011, she was first seen as a tough police officer in Bhavani, which opened to mixed reviews and bombed at the box office, although Sneha received praise for her performance. Ponnar Shankar, a period film penned by M. Karunanidhi, where she appeared as a warrior-princess, opened to mixed reviews and didn't do well at the box office.^[24] Rajanna, a period film based on Telangana issue opposite Nagarjuna for the second time, released on 22 December 2012 to positive reviews.^[25]

In 2012, her long canned movie, Murattu Kaalai, with Sundar C was released on 15 June 2012 to mixed reviews, being her first movie post-marriage.^[26]

2013–present

In 2013, she acted in a critically acclaimed movie Haridas. The movie opened to critical acclaim and performed well at the box office. Sneha was nominated for Filmfare Best Actress Award for her performance in the movie.^[27]

Her next release was a trilingual made in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu – Un Samayal Arayil (2014), the official remake of the Malayalam blockbuster Salt N' Pepper, where she starred opposite Prakash Raj and a bunch of debutantes. The Kannada version was successful, while the other two versions was unsuccessful. Sneha later hosted a Tamil reality television show Melam Kottu Thali Kattu and the show was aired for 2 seasons.^{[citation needed]}

In 2015, Sneha appeared in the Telugu film S/O Satyamurthy with Allu Arjun, Samantha Ruth Prabhu and Nithya Menen, opposite Upendra, directed by Trivikram Srinivas, which turned out to be a blockbuster. That was her only release in 2015 and she has been on a maternity break since then.^{[citation needed]}

In 2017, Sneha starred in The Great Father opposite Mammootty, and produced by actors Prithviraj Sukumaran and Arya.^[28] She starred in Velaikkaran directed by Mohan Raja, alongside Sivakarthikeyan and Nayanthara.^[29] She was also the judge a Tamil reality TV show, Dance Jodi Dance, alongside Radhika.^[30] In 2019, she starred in the Telugu-language film Vinaya Vidheya Rama and the historical Kannada-language film Kurukshetra.^[31] She played the lead actress in Pattas (2020) with Dhanush.^[31][32]

Other assignments

Sneha was to make her Bollywood debut with Mad Dad, alongside Naseeruddin Shah and Ayesha Takia, to be directed by Revathy S. Varma. Sneha was also roped in to play Sita in Rajkumar Santoshi's Ramayan, featuring Ajay Devgan in lead. However, both the projects failed to take off.^[33] She was also reported to play a major role in Kochadaiyaan, to be written by K. S. Ravikumar and directed by Soundarya Rajinikanth.^[34] In December 2011, Sneha confirmed in an interview that she will be starring opposite Rajinikanth.^[35] But later, she opted out of the project to allocate dates for the film Haridas, to which she is already committed.^[36][37][38] She was to feature in Mani Ratnam's anthology film Navarasa and Vaan but did not feature.^{[39][verification needed]}

Modeling

She has appeared in many commercials such as Saravana Stores, Horlicks, Roobini Oil, Aashirvaad, Idhayam Dots, Jos Aalukkas, Power Shampoos, Shree Devi Textiles, Preethi Mixi, GRB Udhayam Ghee, Papilon, Vencobb Chicken, Nisha Fairness Cream, Kellogg's Chocos, Tata Salt etc. In 2010, she was announced the brand ambassador for Dabur Amla Nelli Hair Oil and Cavin Kare's Chinni's Pickle. Post-marriage, Sneha along with her husband Prasanna worked on Univercell commercials which created viral response.^[40][41]

She also appeared in numerous fashion shows such as Chennai International Fashion Week, Sydney Sladen Fashion Week and other shows which were held in Chennai and Mumbai.^{[citation needed]}

Film