India's first role in a film was in 'Clancy's Kitchen,' which was released in 1996. It was made mainly for the British audience. 

Her Indian background proved her plus point and fetched her a role in Mira Nair directed 'Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love in 1997 and 'Bride and Prejudice alongside Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in 2004. 

Varma Genoese Italian descent also made her the ideal choice to play the role of Niobe, the young Roman wife of Lucius Vorenus, in the BBC / HBO historical drama series titled 'Rome' in 2007.

She has appeared as the principal character in the 'BBC Three science fiction drama series 'Torchwood' as Suzie Costello in the episodes Everything Changes' and 'They Keep Killing Suzie.'

Varma had a guest appearance in the US detective drama series 'Bones' as the Scotland Yard inspector, Cate Prichard. 

She also had a character role as Zoe Luther in the first season of the BBC drama, 'Luther.'

Her television career continued to gain momentum with her role of Ellaria Sand, the paramour of Oberyn Martell in the HBO serial 'Game of Thorns' and that of Ilsa Pucci in the Fox television series 'Human Target.'

She also lent her voice to the video game 'Dragon Age: Inquisition and is currently playing the role of DC Nina Suresh in the British television drama 'Paranoid.'

Indira's first love was always theatre. In 1997, she played the role of Bianca in Shakespeare's 'Othello' at the National Theatre in London. She also appeared in the stage adaption of Harold Pinter's 'Remembrance of Things Past in 2001.

Indira performed in the Harold Pinter play 'One for the Road' at the Lincoln Centre for Performing Arts in New York City. In London, she regularly appeared in shows at the London Theatre that included the Russian play 'Ivanov' by Anton Chekhov, the three-act play 'The Vortex' by Noel Coward, and the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama 'The Skin of Our Teeth' by Thomas Wilder.

Her latest stage appearances have been as Queen of the Goths in Lucy Bailey's 'Gore-fest production of 'Titus Andronicus and Bernard Shaw's 'Man and Superman' at the National Theatre, London.

Her significant roles in films include Maya in ‘Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love (1996), Kitty in ‘Clancy’s Kitchen (1997), Ruttie Jinnah in ‘Jinnah’ (1998), Kiran Balraj in ‘Bride and Prejudice (2004), Denise Glass in ‘Basic Instinct 2’ (2006) and Sonia in ‘Una’ (2016).

She has appeared in several television serials. Some of her prominent serials are ‘Psychos’ (1999), ‘In a Land of Plenty (2001), ‘The Canterbury Tales (2003), ‘Love Soup’ (2005), ‘Torchwood’ (2006), ‘Bones’ (2008), ‘Game of Thrones (2014) and ‘Paranoid’ (2016).

She has also lent her voice to Dragon Age: Inquisition and ‘Mass Effect Andromeda’ video games.