 Srividya launched her career as a child artist in the 1967 Tamil film "Thiruvarutchelvar" alongside legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan.Later she entered Malayalam films with a dance scene in "Kumara Sambhavam" (1969), directed by P. Subramaniam and in Telugu film "Tata Manavadu" (1972) directed by Dasari Narayana Rao.However, her first major role was that of a college student falling in love with her professor in the 1971 Tamil film "Nootrukku Nooru", directed by K. Balachander.