Malaika was selected as one of the MTV VJs when MTV India started its operations becoming an interviewer and later co-anchoring with Cyrus Broacha the programs Love Line and Style Check. Malaika then entered the modelling world, appearing in many advertisements, for album songs like "Gur Naal Ishq Mitha" and item numbers such as "Chaiyya Chaiyya" in the 1998 Bollywood film Dil Se... In the 2000s, apart from featuring in item numbers for various films, she made cameo appearances in a few films. In 2008, she appeared in her first major acting role in the film EMI which was a box-office failure. In 2010, she featured in the item song "Munni Badnaam Hui" in the film Dabangg, which was produced by her husband Arbaaz Khan.[10] On 12 March 2011, she helped set a world record with 1235 participants performing a choreographed dance to "Munni Badnaam" which she led.