She was born on 18 December 1986 to a Punjabi Hindu father and a Bihari mother. Her father owns a management firm and her mother is a professor at PGDAV College of Delhi University, who has authored two books and also works with Gandhi Smriti.

Chadda was brought up in Delhi, India. After completing her schooling from Sardar Patel Vidyalaya in 2002, she took a Diploma in Social Communication Media from Sophia College, Mumbai.

Chadda began her career as a model and then she moved to theater. She has performed plays touring in India and Pakistan. Later, she also received her training under Barry John.

Initial struggles (2008–2011)

Chadda made her acting debut in a supporting role as Dolly in Dibakar Banerjee-directed 2008 film Oye Lucky! Lucky Oye!. Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN described her as a "revelation " in the film. She appeared in the 2010 comedy film Benny and Babloo as Fedora. Taran Adarsh reviewing for Bollywood Hungama stated that Chadda "stand out with confident portrayal" and Komal Nahta from Koimoi stated that she lend "fine support" in the film. In the meanwhile, a Kannada movie in which she had acted, titled Nirdoshi was released in 2010 after a delay of almost 3 years.

Breakthrough (2012)

In 2012, she played a pivotal role in Anurag Kashyap's crime drama Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 1. The plot (spanning 50 years) tells a story of power struggles, politics and vengeance among three crime families. She stated in an interview that this role as 'Nagma Khatoon' helped her get 11 film roles. The film premiered at the 65th Cannes Film Festival and she was universally praised for her performance. Taran Adrash found Chadda "simply brilliant from the very inception". Mansha Rastogi of Now Running said "Chadda brings a perfect blend of the strength and helplessness of a woman in the yesteryears". She reprised her role as Nagma Khatoon in the sequel Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2. The film premiered in the Cannes Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival with its prequel. According to Madhureeta Mukherjee of The Times of India "Chadda holds fort in the sequel too, strong and poised, she's fab", and Taran Adarsh stated she "fetches dignity to her character". Chadda received a Filmfare Award nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category and won the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actress.

Recognition (2013–2015)

Chadda's first release of 2013 came in the Mrighdeep Singh Lamba-directed coming of age comedy film Fukrey, in which she portrayed a tough-talking female don Bholi Punjaban. Taran Adarsh wrote "Richa Chadda is in terrific form and from her introduction itself, the graph of the film steers Northwards". She then appeared in one of the segments in the Anurag Kashyap-produced anthology film Shorts titled "Epilogue". Chadha and Shirvastav play a dysfunctional couple who seem extremely unhappy with each other. The segment featuring Chadda, received mixed reviews from critics.

Chadda next appeared in a supporting role as Rasila in Sanjay Leela Bhansali-directed drama film Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela, an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. Meena Iyer of The Times of India said "You have to applaud Richa Chadda ... for being the talent ". Sukanya Verma of Rediff.com wrote "Richa Chadda doesn’t have a big role but she owns the scenes she walks in with her inbuilt fire". She received a nomination in IIFA Best Supporting Actress category for the role.

Chadda next appeared in Navneet Behal-directed 2014 film Tamanchey in the role of Babu, a criminal. Chadda's role received mixed reviews, being compared to her earlier works. Saibal Chatterjee reviewing for NDTV criticized: "Chadda, coming off a string of well-received screen performances, is completely off-colour here. There is far less meat in the role than she imagines", though Mohar Basu from Koimoi found Chadda "feisty and brilliant in the film". Chadda has worked with director Mira Nair in a Mexican-American anthology film Words with Gods which is directed by nine different directors. Chadda plays the role of Meghna in the segment titled "God Room". It was screened out of competition at the 71st Venice International Film Festival.

Masaan was appreciated at 2015 Cannes Film Festival and won two prestigious awards. NDTV's Saibal Chatterjee gave Masaan(2015) 4.5 stars, saying "Richa Chadha inhabits not just the body of Devi Pathak, but her entire soul. The result is as powerful a screen heroine as any we have seen in years." Rajeev Masand of CNN-IBN, said- "Masaan is a deeply affecting film that is brought to life by its remarkable cast, particularly Sanjay Mishra, Richa Chadha and terrific new-find Vicky Kaushal."^[39]

Richa Chadda talks about ‘HER’ kind of cinema after Masaan release- "People ask me what kind of cinema I ‘represent’, don’t know the answer to that. All I know is that I want to be a part of change in Indian cinema. Just a tiny dent." ^[40]

After a massive appreciation for Masaan, her next movie was a biopic of Charles Sobhraj, Main Aur Charles. She played a role of Charles’ girlfriend. Being a law student, she defended Charles in legal proceedings as she tries to convince police how misunderstood the criminal Sobhraj really is. Her blind love and faith is well captured in her adamant expressions and lines. "He (Charles) can escape but no one can escape him," she says ^[41]

Critical and Commercial success (2016–present)

In January 2016, Chadda appeared as a journalist in social-drama Chalk n Duster.^[42][43] Gayatri Gauri of Firstpost remarked ''Richa Chadda, in a supporting role as a news anchor, looks equally uncomfortable. In an effort to add aunthenticity, she is given a Gujarati dialogue, which only adds to the actor’s apparent discomfort.''^[44]

She later appeared in Sarbjit, a biographical-drama film based upon the life of Sarabjit Singh. She portrayed the role of Sukhpreet, and share screen alongside Aishwarya Rai and Randeep Hooda.^[45] The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was a moderate commercial success. Surabhi Redkar from Koimoi.com praised Chadda's performance and said ''Richa Chadha as Sukhpreet, the wife does a fabulous job. She hardly speaks but emotes extremely powerfully with her eyes. As a wife longing for her husband’s return, she is spot on.''^[46]

In 2017, Richa acted in an Indian-American web-series Inside Edge, playing the lead character of a struggling actress.^[47] The series was positively received by both critics and audience.^[48] In the same year, Jia Aur Jia was released. The film received unfavorable reviews from critics and did not perform well at box office too.^[49][50]

After that, she reprised her role as Bholi Punjaban in Fukrey Returns, a much-awaited sequel to 2013 film Fukrey.^[51][52][53] Just like its prequel, the film received mostly positive reviews from critics and became a huge commercial success, grossing more than 70 crore in just 12 days.^[54][55] The film has become the highest grossing film of Chadda.^[56] Umesh Punwani of Koimoi.com describes Richa's performance as ''Richa Chadha retains the swag and is as badass as she was in the first one. Her unconventional chemistry with Varun Sharma shines brighter in this one taking forward the dreamy pair of Choocha-Bholi.''^[57]

Upcoming Projects

Richa Chadda has completed filming for Sudhir Mishra's version of the Devdas saga, entitled Aur Devdas as Paro.^[58] She has also finished filming for Pooja Bhatt's much delayed film Cabaret, awaiting release.^[59] Chadda is recently filming for David Womark's Indo-American production Love Sonia.^[60]

In 2014, she posed as a mermaid for a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals ad campaign, encouraging people to avoid eating fish and to go vegetarian.^[61] The same year, she walked the ramps of Lakme Fashion Week^[62] and performed in a play called Trivial Disasters.^[63] Although she appeared in PETA ads supporting vegetarianism, she opposed the beef ban in Indian state of Maharashtra.^[64]

In 2015, Richa Chadda represented India at the 18th Marrakech International Film Festival. The festival representatives invited her as a Jury member alongside Hollywood film-maker and screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola, the president of the Marrakech Film Festival.

She had also done advertisements for Minute Maid, Tata Sky, Archies Gallery, Virgin Mobile and Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate.^[65]