Upon her debut in Bollywood, Lamba took up the name Mallika (princess) Sherawat, the latter being her mother’s maiden name. She has a degree in Indian philosophy from Miranda House, Delhi University. In 2003, she attracted wide notice with her appearance in Khwahish. Then she received a nomination for Best Actress at the Zee Cine Awards ceremony for her performance in Murder. The film went on to become one of the biggest hits of the year. She also made news on winning a small role in a Jackie Chan movie, The Myth. She made a widely publicized appearance at the Cannes Film Festival to promote the movie. But praise from the industry came for her role in the 2006 film Pyaar Ke Side Effects.She has recently started appearing in Kannada and Telugu films, too.
She happens to be the first Indian woman to get an offer to pose nude for Playboy magazine and appear on the cover. Mallika turned down the offer. She has also been voted as one of Asia`s 100 most beautiful people by the Hong Kong based fashion and beauty magazine, Cover.