Her first commercial success in her film career was with Style, a 2001 Hindi low-budget sex comedy directed by N. Chandra. Her other notable films were producer Pritish Nandy's musical film, Jhankaar Beats (2001) in Hinglish, director David Dhawan's comedy film, Shaadi No. 1Santhosh Sivan's Malayalam horror filmAnanthabhadram (2005).Riya was first recognised as a model when she performed in Falguni Pathak's music video Yaad Piya Ki Aane Lagi at the age of 16. Since then she has appeared in music videos, television commercials, fashion shows, and magazine covers. (2005) and director-cinematographer
