Hansika was supposed to make her cinematic debut as a child artiste in a film entitled Yahoo which also starred Juhi Chawla and Govinda, an offer she received from Chawla who recommended her to the director after noticing her acting capabilities. Unfortunately, the film was severely delayed and was shelved, permanently. Thanks again to Juhi, Hansika went on to do a Hyundai Santro ad with Shahrukh Khan. Soon after this, Hansika was bagged with offers, notedly from prominent Indian filmmaker Rakesh Roshan for a brief role in Koi… Mil Gaya, which also starred Hrithik Roshan and Preity Zinta .
She has also done several ad films for brands like Samsung Electronics, Bournvita and Pepsi and has said that she “loves doing ad films”.
Prior to this, Hansika also acted in many Hindi soap operas like Ekta Kapoor’s Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Sony TV’s Hum 2 Hain Na, Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand and Zee TV’s Tum Bin, to name a few. She got her first big break after acting in Mehul Kumar’s Jaago. The film, based on true events, told the story of a 10-year-old mentally challenged girl, who was raped on a local train on August 14, 2002. Though the film did not do so well at the box-office, it gained Hansika good reviews from all centres. She has also done films like Hawa and Escape from Taliban, which unfortunately, bombed at the box office.
Hansika later went on to do the Amitabh Bachchan starrer, Hum Kaun Hai?, a remake of the Hollywood film, The Others. She played Sara, the daughter of Dimple Kapadia character in the film who suffers from extreme photosensitivity. She also played a role in Dheeraj Kumar’s Aabra Ka Dabra.
She also took part in Celebrity Fame Gurukul, a singing competition among some other celebrities for charity. Though she was not a very good singer, Hansika noted that she accepted to be a part of the show because she wanted to do something for the children of Make-A-Wish Foundation.
Hansika will be making her debut as a heroine in Puri Jagannadh’s upcoming Telugu film, Desa Muduru opposite Allu Arjun. The film is about a crime reporter who falls in love with a sannyasi, played by Hansika. She also has a Hindi film entitled He: The Only One in where she will be essaying the role of a killer, hell bent on taking revenge for her family. She has also signed a Tamil film, Sarvam, directed by Vishnuvardhan which will be a youthful love story. Hansika has also recently signed another film, opposite Ravi Teja, titled Dubai Seenu.
