Sushmita made her debut in Dastak in the role of a vulnerable girl being stalked by a psycho (Sharad Kapoor). The film was a dud at the box office. Soon another flop Zor followed. Things were not going right for Sush.

Then Sushmita did a comic role in David Dhawan’s Biwi No.1 and caught movie buff’s attention. She had a flair for the comedy. She also did a romantic role opposite Abhishek Bachchan in Bus Itna Sa Khwab Hai. Unfortunately this movie too bombed at the box office. Recently she was seen in a very realistic role in Meghna Gulzar’s directorial debut Filhaal. She has got very rave reviews for convincing portrayal of her character in the film.

Sushmita is intelligent, but it's an intelligence as yet untainted by realism. Before all this happened, here was yet a gossamer world, tipped between the cradle and the crown. Creative rather than literal, poetic rather than pedantic, it is these very qualities that endeared her to the viewers and judges.