Mahima was a model before she became a Bollywood actress, once appearing with Aishwarya Rai in a Pepsi commercial. Her first breakthrough performance, where she won rave reviews, was Pardes (1997) as Ganga, the love interest of two men played by Shah Rukh Khan and Apoorva Agnihotri. The role of Ganga was a village girl who still values her culture. She was chosen to be the female lead among about 3,000 applicants who auditioned for Pardes. Her career was launched by Subhash Ghai who had also launched the careers of popular actresses like Madhuri Dixit and Manisha Koirala. She changed her name to Mahima Chaudhary since Subhash Ghai has a superstitious belief of launching big careers with actresses whose names start with the letter ‘M’. She won rave review for her first performance in Pardes (1997) as a village girl who still values her culture. Unlike most top actresses in India, she didn’t mind playing supporting roles in films (example: Dhadkan (2000), Dil Kya Kare (1999)). Apart from her role in Pardes (1997), she also won acclaims on her role as Kavita, the devoted wife of Ajay Devgan in Dil Kya Kare (1999) which earned her a second filmfare nomination. She was also nominated for her performances in Dhadkan and Dobara.
Next to doing a variety of movies, she has also worked with numerous talented actresses including Kajol, Shilpa Shetty, Urmila Matondkar, Manisha Koirala, Raveena Tandon, Rekha, Preity Zinta, Tabu, Padmini Kolhapure, and Hema Malini. When she was asked about this she responded by saying that she enjoyed working with other actresses and she expressed her opinion to work with Juhi Chawla, her favorite actress!