In 2006, she appeared in 6 films. Her first release that year was Vadakkum Nathan, which Padmapriya considers as her debut film, citing: "I started taking this career seriously with that movie". She next starred in the Tamil film Pattiyal, in which she portrayed a salesgirl at a garment company. The Vishnuvardhan-directed gangster film, in which she shared screen space with Arya, Bharath and Pooja Umashankar, was a commercial and critical success, becoming one of the highest-grossing Tamil films of the year. Later that year, she acted in the Malayalam-language film Karutha Pakshikal and Yes Your Honour, which both were well appreciated by critics. Padmapriya's performance in both the films received positive reviews, particularly her portrayal as Poongodi, a street beggar, in the former fetched her rave accloades and earned her several awards including a Filmfare Best Actress Award.