Mahima Chaudhry was born as Ritu Chaudhry in Darjeeling, West Bengal, on 13th September, 1973. She did her schooling and earned a graduate degree from Loreto College in Darjeeling.

She started off as a model in the 1990s, and appeared in several television advertisements. She became a well known face, after she featured in the first Pepsi advertisement with Aamir Khan. The pretty model also gained popularity as a Video Jockey (VJ) on music channels. Then she caught the attention of director Subhash Ghai who renamed her Mahima Chaudhry and offered her Pardes (1997) opposite Shah Rukh Khan. The film opened to positive reviews and her performance impressed the audience. She bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Female Debut for the movie.

After this, the model-turned-actress got the opportunity to portray a variety of roles in films like Daag: The Fire (1997), where she played a double role, Pyaar Koi Khel Nahin (1999) where she was a widow forced to marry her brother-in-law, Dhadkan (2000) where she plays a woman in love with a man who does not love her, Deewane (2000) where she played a singer in love with a thief, Kurukshetra (2000) where she was a stubborn wife of a police officer and  Dil Hai Tumhaara (2002) where she played the role of a loving sister. These are a few of the many movies through which Chaudhry garnered fame and popularity and established herself in the industry. Dhadkan (2000) even won her the Bollywood Movie Award for the Best Supporting Actress.

Her small, but power-packed performance in Lajja (2001) can be considered a significant part of her career. The pretty actress has shared screen space with other talented actresses, like Rekha, Hema Malini, Preity Zinta, Kajol, Shilpa Shetty, Urmila Matondkar, Manisha Koirala and Raveena Tandon.

After that, she acted in a number of acclaimed films, including Om Jai Jagadish (2002), Baghban (2003), Dobara (2004), Souten: The Other Woman (2006), and Gumnaam (2008) which was her last appearance on screen.

After a long break from her film career, she is set to reappear with two new films in the pipeline,  Mumbhaii - The Gangster and Dark Chocolate.

The actress separated from the architect businessman Bobby Mukherji, whom she had married in 2006. It is suspected that the divorce occurred due to resentment for her raunchy performance in the video for the song “Abhi Abhi Ho Gaya” from the movie Kudiyon Ka Hai Zamana (2006). She also has an eight year old daughter with him.