After 4 years of his marriage, Sudhir revealed his filmy ambitions to his family and received positive support from them. He appeared in a little cameo in Gautham Menon's Ye Maaya Chesave, which was produced by his sister-in-law Manjula.

He turned full length hero in 2012 with Tatineni Satya’s Siva Manasulo Shruti (SMS). Despite the best efforts put in by the actor, the movie did not fare well at the box office. There were reviews that audiences were not so impressed with his squeaky voice in the film.  But his fights and dances won him good accolades.

After the disappointing result, he worked on his voice with the help of Music director RP Patnaik. He even flexed his muscles during that time. His second film, Prema Katha Chitram was made with a minimal budget and went on to become one of the biggest hits of 2013 in terms of Return of Investment.  The movie ran 50 days in 53 centers without any deficit. However the happiness did not last long with immediate flop of Aadu Magadura Bujji.