Adah Sharma: Redefining Style and Elegance in Indian Cinema

Adah Sharma was born in a Tamil Brahmin family in Mumbai on 11 May 1992. Her father, Mr. S. L. Sharma, was a captain in the merchant navy and her mother is a classical dancer. She decided to become an actress in her 10th standard. She wanted to drop out of school but her parents insisted that she complete her twelfth grade. 

She has been keen in dancing since the age of three, and has completed her graduation in Kathak from the Natraj Gopi Krishna Kathak Dance Academy in Mumbai. She had learnt salsa for four months in the US, besides jazz and ballet. Adah is also a gymnast. 

Trying to enter the film industry, Adah auditioned for several roles, but was initially rejected because of her curly hair or because she looked too young. She eventually landed the lead female role in the 2009 Hindi horror film 1920 opposite Rajneesh Duggal, directed by Vikram Bhatt. Her portrayal of a possessed woman was unanimously praised by critics. The film was a commercial success and earned Adah a Best Female Debut nomination at the 54th Filmfare Awards. Three years later, she had her next release, Phhir, again a horror film, which saw her collaborating with Vikram Bhatt, who wrote the film, and her 1920 co-star Rajneesh Duggal. Phhir, however, did not do so well in 1920, and failed at the box office. 

Her third film, the romantic comedy Hum Hai Raahi Car Ke, released another two years later and was also a failure.In 2014, Adah made her debut in Telugu films with Puri Jagannadh's romantic flick, Heart Attack opposite Nithiin. She then did a Hindi film Hasee Toh Phasee alongside Sidharth Malhotra and Parineeti Chopra, in a supporting role. Sharma received positive remarks for her performance in Heart Attack. Both films were commercially successful, Hasee Toh Phasee ended up as one of the highest-grossing Hindi films of 2014.

Her next South Indian films were S/O Satyamurthy in Telugu, starring Allu Arjun and Samantha Ruth Prabhu, and Pavan Wadeyar action thriller Rana Vikrama, alongside Puneeth Rajkumar and Anjali, her first Kannada project. Both films were financially successful. Her next Telugu film was with Sai Dharam Tej for Subramanyam for Sale, a Telugu romantic comedy. 

At the 5th edition of Indian Federation for Fashion Development's India Runway Week,  The designer kept the collection region-specific and showcased the lesser known handlooms of the south.

Adah had three releases in 2016, a Telugu romantic comedy 'Garam' with Aadi. Her next film was the acclaimed thriller Kshanam where she played the central role of Swetha, who seeks help from her ex-boyfriend (Adivi Sesh). Her third release of the year was the romantic comedy Idhu Namma Aalu, her first Tamil film, in which she had a small role and also performed an item number on the song "King Kong", which topped the charts in South India and her dance moves as well as pairing with Silambarasan was praised.

She then appeared in the Hindi thriller Commando 2, a sequel to the 2013 film Commando: A One Man Army, where she plays the female lead role of an inspector opposite Vidyut Jammwal. Commercially, the film was an average-grosser. In 2020, she played the role of a transgender woman in a MX PLAYER webseries titled Pati patni aur panga.

She appeared in Web Series like Pukaar, The Holiday, Pati Patni Aur Panga, short films like Tinder, Moh, Soulsathi, Chuha Billi and in Music videos: Life, Drunk N High, Sorry Sorry and Piya Re Piya.