Shriya Saran family lived in the small town of BHEL colony in Haridwar when she was growing up. She then studied at Lady Shri Ram College in Delhi and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Literature
Saran is an accomplished dancer. She was first trained as a child by her mother in folk dance Kathak and Rajasthani, and was later trained in the Kathak style by Shovana Narayan.
She then appeared in several other Telugu films while making routes in the Hindi and Tamil industries. In 2007, Saran starred in Sivaji, the most profitable Tamil film at that time.
She was also critically acclaimed for her role in the 2007 Bollywood film Awarapan. In 2008, Saran starred in her first English film, the American-Indian co-production The Other End of the Line.