He shot to fame in 1961 when his first major composition "Legend of Love" was staged at the Kirov State Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet in Leningrad (present day St Petersburg) and received nationwide acclaim.

The ballet has been staged in several countries in Europe and is regarded as one of the finest works emerging from the former Soviet Union.

Malikov went on to write music for two more ballets, including "Yer üzündə iki nəfər (balet)" Yer üzündə iki nəfər (balet) ("Dvoe" or "Two") (1967) and "Poem of Two Hearts" (1981), five symphonies & eight symphony poems.

He also wrote scores for a large number of films and plays and was familiar with practically all genres of music composition.

He was also honoured with a concert hall named after him at Turkey's Bilkent University.