After she appeared for the look test, Samaresh Majumdar, the screenplay writer of the TV series considered her to be imperfect for the role. The role being that of a call girl, Majumdar wanted an attractive actress to portray it. He suggested Banik to find another actress other than Ganguly whom he considered to be dowdy. Majumdar was requested to meet Ganguly once again. This time Ganguly appeared charming and attractive, and was finalized to portray the female lead. Her performance in the series was appreciated. She accepted a role opposite Chiranjeet Chakraborty in Prabhat Roy's Bengali film Prateek (1988). Roy's next venture was Agnitrishna (1989) that once again saw Chiranjeet Chakraborty essaying the male protagonist Abhijit suffering from pyrophobia. Roy cast Ganguly as the female lead opposite Chakraborty. She had to enact the role of the doctor who treats the protagonist. The film failed to win critical favour while Ganguly's performance was critically acclaimed. She also accepted another role opposite Chakraborty in Biresh Chatterjee's Bengali film Tufan (1989). The film was a major financial success. She featured in Mrinal Sen's much acclaimed Hindi Film Ek Din Achanak (1989) and Basu Chatterjee's Hindi film Kamla Ki Maut (1989). Reportedly B.R. Chopra was quite impressed with Ganguly's performance in the TV series Ganadevta. After Juhi Chawla declined the role of Draupadi for Mahabharat, Chopra decided to get her appear for a screen test for the role. In 1988, she was summoned by director Biresh Chatterjee to NT1 Studio where the director informed her that Chopra wanted her to appear for the look test. Ramya Krishnan was also another strong candidate to portray the role. Ganguly was finally chosen since her Hindi diction was better. In 1989, the 34th episode of the series introduced her. She was hailed for her performance in the Game of Dice sequence. The sequence was aired in the 46th, 47th and 48th episodes of the series. The sequence narrates Draupadi being dragged to the court by Dushasana. She then asks Bhishma, a veteran of the Kuru clan whether Yudhishthira has the right to put her in stake. The sequence demanded her to weep while enacting the part. She was so engrossed that she wept on even after her shot was over. She later claimed that her performance in the TV series was quite mediocre. Ganguly received wide attention from Bollywood media and producers for her role in