Arundhati was born in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India to Venkatswamy and Geetha. She finished her PUC from Bapu composite PU College in Bangalore. She then started a training course as an Air Hostess in Bangalore. She was offered her debut role in Kannada film.

Tamil cinema

While in school, she was spotted by a director in a temple, who approached her. She eventually agreed to do one movie but continued to receive acting offers. Well-known Tamil cinema director S. A. Chandrashekar approached her with the offer of a part in his film Velattu Kattu, which she accepted. Although it was an average movie, critics praised her performance.

Chandrashekar gave her the name Arundhati, which was then adopted by the Tamil cinema industry. She was choosy about her roles, turning down some offers until acting in Bodinayakarun Ganesan (2011) and Sundattam (2013) opposite Ifran. In 2014 she appeared in Netru Indru, in which she had a challenging role as a police officer who is disguised as a prostitute. Though the movie did not turn out well, she was praised for her part.

She acted opposite Thaman Kumar in the romantic thriller movie Thottal Thodarum (2015), after having a role in the comedy-thriller movie Naaigal Jaakirathai (2014), opposite Sibi Sathyaraj.^[3] The movie was a hit and she received positive reviews.^[4] In 2016 she was the lead female character in the action movie Aarthanaari, which flopped.

Kannada cinema

Arundhati debuted in Aantharya, a Kannada-language film released in 2011. In 2012, she made a guest appearance in the politically-oriented Kannada movie Agraja opposite Darshan.