Sonali Bendre featured on the silver screen for the first time in 1994 opposite actor Govinda in an action film Aag. Shilpa Shetty also acted in the film.
Aag was directed by K. Ravi Shankar, based on Maruthu Pandi by Manoj Kumar. A. Krishnamurthy produced the film with the budget of 1.85 crore and it became a box-office hit by making the business of Rs 5.51 crore at the box office.
Sonali Bendre was 19 years old when she made her debut in the film Aag and in the film she did the role of Parul . For her performance she received Filmfare Award for Lux New Face of the Year and Screen Award for Best Female Debut. In the same year in 1994 she acted in Mahesh Bhatt’s film Naaraaz for which she got Filmfare sensational Debut Award.
Some of the Sonali Bendre’s commercially hit films are Diljale in 1996, Major Saab in 1998, Sarfarosh in 1999 and Hum Saath Saath Hai in 1999. She received a wide recognition with the song Hamma Hamma from the film Bombay in 1995.
Bendre was a model before entering the Stardust Talent Search.
Before she took a break from acting she appeared in 2013 film Once Upon A Time in Mumbai Dobaara!
In 2022 her delayed film Love You Hamesha got released.
Recently she made a cameo role in 2025 film Be Happy.
Recently the fans have expressed their interest on the sequel of Diljale, Diljale 2 by making concept trailors and through discussion online. The makers of Diljale have not made any official confirmation on making Diljale 2 so far.
In the 1996 released film Diljale, Ajay Devgn, Sonali Bendre and Madhoo were in the leading roles. The film received a good response and collected good amount at the box- office.