Aarthi began her career as a child artiste in Vanna Kanavugal (1987), before taking a break from films and attending Meenakshi College for Women. She then got a breakthrough as a comedian through the stand up comedy show, Asatha Povathu Yaaru?. Her performances on the show fetched her film offers, with Aarthi often playing overweight characters in Tamil films during the 2000s.[4] In 2012, she was described as "Kollywood's most sought after comedienne". Arul,giri, Maayavi, Souryam, Villu, Girls, Kaththi Sandai, Kuruvi, etc are her popular films.