Mahima Chaudhry 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'.

Unlike most top actresses in India, Chaudhry did not mind playing a second fiddle in films like Dhadkan (2000) and Dil Kya Kare (1999). Apart from her role in Pardes, she also won acclaim for her role as Kavita, the loving wife of a man (played by Ajay Devgan) in Dil Kya Kare. She was nominated for Filmfare Awards for that role. She is a close friend of Leander Paes, the popular Indian tennis player.