Payal made her Bollywood debut in Harry Baweja's Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai?, a Hindi remake of the Hollywood teen flick American Pie. However, she went unnoticed in the multi-starrer. She shot into the limelight by doing some small budget films, but she seemed to have a change of heart as she realised that these small budget films were not of her sensibility as these films released badly and were shot badly.
In 2006, she signed her first A grade Bollywood film, 36 China Town, as one of the lead characters. The movie starred already established stars like Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, and Paresh Rawal. Even amongst all these stars she got noticed.
Later in that year, she appeared in the critically acclaimed Corporate where, ironically, she played the part of an item girl.
