Lara Dutta primarily signed up to do the Tamil film, Arasathci in 2002, but due to financial problems, it only released in mid-2004. She made her Hindi debut in 2003 with the film Andazz which was a box office success and won her a Film fare Best Female Debut Award . She then appeared in a number of films, some of which failed at the box office and some of which were mildly successful. Her box office "hits" include Masti(2004), No Entry (2005), Partner (2007) and House full (2010).
In 2005, Sania Mirza and Dutta both participated in Kaun Banega Crorepati (season 2) on 13 November 2005. Dutta's first release of 2007 was Shadd Ali's Jhoom Barabar jhoom. The film was a box office failure in India but did better overseas, especially in the U.K. She received mixed reviews for her performance in the film. Her later release, partner opened to a good response and became a hit.
Her 2009 release, Blue was one of the most expensive movies of Indian cinema. Dutta had initially walked out of the project because the movie was entirely shot in the ocean and she did not know how to swim. However the male protagonist Akshay kumar encouraged her in learning how to swim and she immediately started training with a special coach. Blue was released on 16 October 2009. She stated that "The moment I got to know of it, I called Akshay and told him that I wouldn't be able to accept the assignment. He knew the reason behind my decision. Not many people are aware that I had almost drowned while shooting for Andaaz, Akshay had rescued me. When I reminded him I couldn't swim, he told me to forget my phobia and learn swimming pronto," said Dutta. "Today, I feel Blue has not merely made me overcome my phobias, but has also taught me something that will stay with me for the rest of my life".
Her 2010 release House full was a hit across India. The movie starred Akshay kumar, Deepika Padukone and Retish Deshmukh.