Amrita Rao was born in Bombay, Maharashtra, India. She hails from a Konkani-speaking Chitrapur Saraswat Brahmin family. Her father, Deepak Rao, owns an advertising agency, and her mother, Kanchan Rao, is a homemaker. She has a younger sister, Preetika Rao, who is also an actress.

Amrita Rao made her acting debut with the film "Ab Ke Baras" in 2002, which earned her a nomination for the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut. Her first commercial success came with the romantic drama "Ishq Vishk" in 2003, for which she won the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female.

She received praise for her performances in commercially successful films like "Main Hoon Na" (2004), "Vivah" (2006), "Masti" (2004), and "Welcome to Sajjanpur" (2008), winning the Stardust Award for Best Actress for her performance in the latter.

Rao also made her Telugu film debut with "Athidhi" (2007) and established herself as "Bollywood's quintessential girl-next-door". Despite these successes, many of Rao's films turned out to be commercial failures. She then appeared in the National Award-winning film "Jolly LLB" (2013) and has since played supporting parts in films like "Singh Saab the Great" (2013), "Satyagraha" (2013), and "Thackeray" (2019).

Amrita Rao has received several accolades throughout her career. She won the IIFA Award for Star Debut of the Year – Female for "Ishq Vishk" in 2003. She also won the Stardust Award for Superstar of Tomorrow - Female for the same film. For her performance in "Welcome to Sajjanpur", she won the Stardust Award for Best Actress in 2009.

Amrita Rao is known for her private lifestyle. She has never publicized her birthday details. She is a vegetarian and enjoys reading short stories and singing. She is married to RJ Anmol, and they have a son named Veer.