After completing her education at the Lawrence School, Sanawar, Kirat debuted in a Safi ad and then went on to various other campaigns like Fair and Lovely, Siyaram and Lakme adverts with a fellow Indian, Raima Sen, who has since gone on to make it big in the Bollywood film industry. Then Kirat modelled for Sri Kumaran Silks in Chennai to stake her claims in South India.

Kirat debuted in Dongodi Pelli, a Telugu film. She was then signed by Saran for her first major film, Vattaram, after Anushka Shetty pulled out of the project. Vattaram also features Arya and Napoleon. Vattaram tells the story of a gun seller's love. Arya expressed his desire to work with Kirat again in the future after Vattaram.

She signed up to do the prestigious project Desiya Nedunchalai 47 with Dhanush, but the project was delayed and later cancelled. As the film had remained inactive for about three months, Bhattal had signed onto a Kannada language movie titled Geleya opposite Prajwal Devaraj, which was declared a hit. Most recently, she accepted a guest role in the film Santosh Subramaniam, which is a remake of the Telugu language film Bommarillu, which stars Genelia and Jayam Ravi. She has got rave reviews for her role in the film even though it is a short one. A few reviews have said that she outshined the heroine Genilia.^{[citation needed]} She was also confirmed for the lead role in the Telugu film Yamadonga starring N. T. Rama Rao Jr., but turned it down at the last minute citing other commitments; the film went on to become a huge hit, grossing 30 crores in the first month of its release. She has also signed onto a Tamil film with director Krishna of Sillunu Oru Kadhal and Dorai, with Arjun Sarja in the lead role. She is also hosting a travel show called Life Mein Ek Baar- When Angels Dare with actress Barbara Mori, T.V presenter Archana Vijaya, model Diandra Soares and Yana Gupta. The first episode aired on 18 March 2013. She also hosted two seasons of Style and the City which aired on Fox Traveller. She is currently hosting season 4 of Nat Geo Covershot: Heritage city on National Geographic, the first episode aired on 17 December 2016.

Kirat has also been a brand ambassador and shot TV commercials for various products including Lakme, Claeres, Fair and Lovely, Motorola, Airtel, Hero Honda, Kalyan Jewlellers, Macleans and TBZ.

Born in Liberia, Kirat's family belongs to a Sikh family from Chandigarh.^[3] She married popular VJ Gaurav Kapur on 2 November 2014 at Chandigarh.