sports drama M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016), a biopic of cricketer MS Dhoni who served as the former captain of Indian cricket team. She had a supporting role opposite Sushant Singh Rajput (who essayed Dhoni), as the real-life character of his wife, hotel manager Sakshi Rawat. M. S. Dhoni: The Untold Story was a major commercial success with global revenues of over . Advani then starred in Abbas–Mustan's action thriller Machine (2017). It failed at the box office. She next collaborated with filmmaker Karan Johar, for their first of many films, in the Netflix anthological film Lust Stories (2018), where she starred opposite Vicky Kaushal as his sexually dissatisfied wife. Writing for NDTV, Raja Sen found her to be "positively lovely" in it. She also featured with Shahid Kapoor in the music video "Urvashi", sung by Yo Yo Honey Singh. Advani expanded to Telugu cinema in 2018, appearing with Mahesh Babu in the action film Bharat Ane Nenu from Koratala Siva, about a student who unexpectedly becomes the chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. Janani K of India Today opined that she "shines in her brief role" but added that her character was "more of an eye-candy who doesn't add any purpose to the story". The film grossed worldwide, making it one of Telugu cinema's highest grossers. She, however, failed to replicate this success with her second Telugu film, Vinaya Vidheya Rama, co-starring Ram Charan. In a scathing review for The Hindu, Sangeetha Devi Dundoo wrote, "It isn't Kiara Advani's fault that she looks lost in the melee." In the same year, she had a guest appearance in Abhishek Varman's ensemble period film Kalank, produced by Johar. Rise to prominence (2019–present) Advani received wider attention later in 2019 for Sandeep Reddy Vanga's romantic drama Kabir Singh, starring Shahid Kapoor. The film had a worldwide gross of over becoming her highest-grossing release, but critics panned it due to its depiction of misogyny and toxic masculinity. Rajeev Masand bemoaned that her passive character "offers the actress little to work with". She then starred in the comedy Good Newwz alongside Akshay Kumar, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit Dosanjh, about two couples tryst with in vitro fertilization. Namrata Joshi opined, "Dosanjh and Advani are all about the amplification of the boisterous, kitschy Punjabi stereotype but they play it with an infectious cheer." Both Kabir Singh and Good Newwz grossed over each domestically, ranking among