Payal Rohatgi was born in Banjara Hills, Hyderabad. She is the daughter of Veena & Shashank Rohatgi. She has a brother named Gaurav Rohatgi. She was brought up in a middle class family & grew up in Ahmedabad. 

She is a computer engineer from L.D. College of Engineering Ahmedabad by profession.Payal studied in Udgam School. She was also a finalist at the Femina Miss India contest in 2000 & won the title of Miss Tourism World in 2001, against candidates from 65 countries.. These successes encouraged Payal to enter the entertainment industry & so she moved to Mumbai. 

She started her career by modelling for popular brands like Amul, Nirma, & Nescafe. Around this time she also appeared in music videos by rock band Silk Route & Indipop artist Kay Kay. She appeared in ad films with Amitabh Bachchan & cricketer Virender Sehwag. 

Payal's Bollywood debut was in Harry Baweja's Yeh Kya Ho Raha Hai a Hindi remake of the Hollywood teen flick American Pie. She shot into the limelight by doing some small budget films. She is the one of the lead characters in the film 36 China Town. The movie starred the well-known actors Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor, & Paresh Rawal. 

Later that year she appeared in the critically acclaimed Corporate where, she played the part of an item girl.  She was seen in a cameo opposite Ranvir Shorey in PNC film Ugly Aur pagli. She signed on to another role opposite Irfan Khan in a TV18 film Dil Kabaddi. She will be playing the role of an aerobics instructor and sports a much toned lean look in the film.