Pune University in Theatre and earned a bachelor's degree with Drama from Lalit Kala Kendra. Barve has admitted to being socially awkward as a child, and did not have many friends. Later, she moved to Mumbai to focus completely on her acting career and stayed at a girls hostel in Kurla. Acting career 1999-2007: Television, film and theatre debut Barve had her first acting role in the play Ghar Tighancha Hava, just after having completed school. Later, when she moved to Mumbai, she got her first commercial play, Suyog's Aamhala Vegle Vhayache in 2001. She made her debut in Marathi television in 1998 with the TV series Ghadlay Bighadlay, in which she played the character named Champa in rural style. She later played small roles in TV series such as Pimpalpan (1998), Bandhan (1998), Buwa Aala (1999), Chitta Chor (1999), Me Ek Bandu (1999), Abhalmaya (1999), Shriyut Gangadhar Tipre (2001) and Indradhanush (2003). In 2004, she made her debut in the Marathi film industry with the film Chakwa, for which she received the Maharashtra State Film Awards for Most Promising Newcomer of the year. In 2005, Barve played a cameo role in Amol Palekar's bilingual film Thang and also worked in the commercial plays Dehbhaan and Final Draft. In Final Draft she played a student who is unable to grasp what the professor teaches at the academy. For Dehbhaan, she received the award of Most Promising Newcomer of the year at the Alpha Gaurav Puraskar 2003 and award of Best Supporting Actress of the year at Alpha Gaurav Puraskar 2005 for the play Final Draft. Also, Barve was honoured with the awards of Best Actress in the Experimental Theatre of the year at Alpha Gaurav Puraskar 2005, Best Actress in Commercial Play of the year at Maharashtra Times Awards 2006 and Best Actress in Commercial Play of the year at Zee Gaurav Puraskar 2008. Barve next played cameo roles in the films Shevri (2006), Blind Game (2006) and Maati Maay (2006). In 2006, Barve worked in the Marathi TV series Agnishikha, in which she played the title role. Also in the same year, she did the commercial play Hum To Tere Aashiq Hain, in which she played a Muslim girl, Ruksana Saahil, who falls for a Hindu man Anil Pradhan (played by Jitendra Joshi) and marries him. For her work in the play, she received the Maharashtra State Film Award