Sonalee was seen next in the drama film S Sasucha opposite Sunil Barve. Her next release was Kedar Shinde's Irada Pakka where she played the character of Aadya opposite Siddharth Jadhav.
Īfter Natarang, Sonalee was seen in the critically acclaimed movie Ajintha, and another multi-star movie Kshanbhar Vishranti alongside Bharat Jadhav, Hemant Dhome, Sachit Patil and Manva Naik. People started calling her "Apsara," referring to her dance on the song "Apsara Ali" in this movie. Her dance performances in the film were well received by audiences worldwide. Sonalee played the role of Nayana Kolhapurkarin, lead dancer of a theater troop. In 2010, Sonalee was seen in Ravi Jadhav's Natarang. But these movies did not have much success at the box office. Later on she was seen in movies like Hay Kay Nay Kay, Aaba Zindabad, Chal Gaja Karu Maja, Chal Gammat Karu, Gosht Lagnanatrchi. She received Best Actress for Bakula Namdeo Ghotale at Zee Gaurav 2008 and also Best Actress in a debut film at 45th Maharashtra State Film Awards for Marathi film 2008. This was her debut film as a lead actress. Soon after she was offered a lead role in Kedar Shinde's Bakula Namdeo Ghotale.
On the sets of this TV show, she was offered her first Marathi film, Gadhavach lagn where she did a cameo in a dance number called Indra Darbari, Nache Sundari. She was then offered the role of a Katthak Dancer in a Marathi daily soap Ha Khel Sanchitacha alongside veteran Marathi actor Vikram Gokhle. The first time Sonalee witnessed a motion picture camera was in FTII, Pune, while doing a small role in a docu-drama. Acting career Debut and career fluctuations (2006–10) Sonalee has a younger brother who owns an event company called Fledgers. She also has a post graduation degree in mass communication from Indira School of Communication. She has studied at Army School, Kendriya Vidyalaya 1 and finished her graduation in mass communication and journalism from Fergusson College, Pune. Her mother, Savinder, is Punjabi who worked for COD at Dehu Road, Pune. Her father Manohar Kulkarni is a retired Army doctor who served Army Medical Center for 30 years. Sonalee Kulkarni was born to Manohar and Savinder Kulkarni in the army cantonment of Khadki, near Pune.