Gautam was 20 when she moved to Mumbai to follow a career in movies.[17] She produced her tv debut in Chand Ke Paar Chalo,. She extended to perform the cause in Raajkumar Yami Gautam Aaryyan. Following that, she performed her most notable position in television in, Yeh Pyar Na Hoga Kam,[18] which shown on Colors.[19] She has additionally participated in reality shows Meethi Choori No 1 and Home Champion Time 1.

After making her introduction in lead with this year's Kannada picture Ullasa Utsaha, Gautam built her Bollywood debut in a leading position in Shoojit Sircar's romantic comedy-drama Vicky Donor (2012). Co-starring other debutante Ayushmann Khurrana and Annu Kapoor, she represented Ashima Roy, a Bengali girl who falls deeply in love with the titular figure, a Punjabi lad from the Arora household, and gets to learn about his past following marriage.[20] The movie,

which marked Bollywood actor Steve Abraham's generation introduction, obtained positive reviews from critics and proved to be an important professional achievement and one of many highest-grossing shows of the year with global grossing of ₹645 million (US$3.9 million). On her debut performance, Gautam acquired critical praise as well as several awards and nominations, like the Best Female Introduction (tied with Ileana D'Cruz for Barfi!) trophy at the Zee Cine Awards, and a nomination underneath the same type at the 58th Filmfare Awards.

 Following a two-year shortage from Bollywood films, Gautam delivered in 2014 and seemed in two shows, the very first of which was Eeshwar Nivas's romantic humor picture Overall Siyappa, co-starring Ali Zafar, Anupam Kher, and Kirron Kher, in which she played the love fascination of Zafar's character.[21] Gautam's next Bollywood discharge that year was Prabhu Deva's activity thriller Activity Garcia, where Ajay Devgn portrayed a double position, while she and Sonakshi Sinha included since the enjoy pursuits of his characters. Equally Full Siyappa and Action Garcia under-performed at the box office.

In 2015, Gautam seemed along with Varun Dhawan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in Sriram Raghavan's activity thriller Badlapur. The picture, which centers around the story of a man (Raghu, played by Dhawan) who over the length of 15 years avenges the kill of his partner (Misha, performed by her) and daughter, appeared as a vital and professional achievement, gathering ₹770 million (US$11 million) worldwide. Gautam's performance was praised.[22]