In 1985, she was paired with Sandeep Patil in "Kabhi Ajnabi The" (1985), directed and produced by Vijay Singh. She played the character of Geeta, who decides to sacrifice her love for the sake another woman who had previously been her boyfriend's ladylove. The film was over-hyped regarding the Bollywood debut of Sandeep Patil and Roy's sensuous enacting with him in the song sequence "Geet Mere Hothon Ko De Gaya Koi". Filmfare wrote: "With those kohl eyes and her figure scantily covered with, she looked enthralling, yet she looked coy enough." Her performance in this film earned her the Calcutta and National Unity Award for Best Supporting Actress in Hindi Cinema. The film theatrically opened with 80% seat occupancy, but ultimately proved itself to be a major commercial failure due to its poor screenplay. In 1985, she was cast opposite Tapas Paul in Tarun Majumdar's romantic drama "Bhalobasa Bhalobasa". This film established Roy's pairing with Tapas Paul as the leading on-screen pairing of the nineteen eighties. Her other major hits with Paul are "Uttar Lipi" (1986), "Arpan" (1987), "Shankhachur" (1988), "Surer Sathi" (1988), "Surer Akashe" (1988), "Nayanmani" (1989), "Chokher Aloy" (1989), "Shubha Kamana" (1991), "Mayabini" (1992), "Phire Paoa" (1993), "Tobu Mone Rekho" (1994) and "Putrabadhu" (1998).