Aditi Rao Hydari was born in a royal family in Hyderabad on 28 October 1986. She started learning Bharatnatayam at the age of six. Her mastery of the dance form got her the first film in 2007. After watching her performance at a conference, distinguished Bharatnatyam dancer and director Sarada Ramanathan signed her for Srirangam, which was based entirely on classical dance. The film won three National awards and Aditi Rao Hydari's role got her much appreciation.

However, her first film to be released in theatres was the Malayalam Prajapathi, with superstar Mammootty. Her role as a devdasi in the film earned her admiration. In 2009, she was liked in her supporting role in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Delhi-6. Aditi Rao Hydari won her first Screen award for her work in Sudhir Mishra's acclaimed film Yeh Saali Zindagi in 2011. She was also nominated for the Producers Guild film awards for her performance in a supporting role in Imtiaz Ali's Rockstar (2011). In the same year she appeared in the Airtel 3G commercial. In 2012, she made her singing debut with Anu Menon's London, Paris, New York opposite Ali Zafar. However, the film did not receive much commercial success.

Hydari delivered a standout performance in Mahesh Bhatt's Murder 3 in 2013 and was nominated for the Big Star Entertainment award. In the same year she appeared as the romantic interest of Akshay Kumar in Anthony D'Souza's Boss which received mixed response at the box office.

The character of Ruhana played by Hydari In Benoy Nambiar's Wazir (2016) earned her much attention from critics. She successfully conveyed the vulnerability of her character opposite Farhan Akhtar even though she had limited lines and had to mostly communicate with expressions. Gayatri Gauri in her review for Firstpost called Hydari's performance a "welcome change from the glamorous heroine we usually see on screen". Hydari next appeared in Abhishek Kapoor's romantic drama Fitoor alongside Tabu, Aditya Roy Kapoor and Katrina Kaif.

Aditi Rao Hydari's upcoming projects include Sudhir Mishra's Aur Devdas and Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Padmavati.