Kolontarova was born with the name Mazol to Yashuva Kolontarov and Tamara Khanimova Kolontarova (both originally from Samarkand, Uzbekistan), a religious Bukharian Jewish family in Dushanbe, Tajikistan and was the youngest of her 5 sisters and 2 brothers.

Kolontarova toured and performed different national dances in the countries such as Japan,[5] Afghanistan, Spain, Turkey, Russia and India.

Kolontarova married Ilyas (Ishaq) Gulkarov, a Bukharian Jewish doira player and "Honored Artist of Tajikistan."

Following the collapse of the USSR, Malika and her family moved to Queens, New York, in the United States in 1993 to escape the turmoil and poverty in Tajikistan.

[4] Kolontarova and Gulkarov live in Rego Park, a neighbourhood of Queens populated by around 50,000 Bukharan Jews that has earned the nickname of Queenistan.

The family issues related to Samira's gender confirmation surgery were broadcast on Channel One Russia's talk show "Пусть говорят", when it was also revealed that Malika helped pay for the gender confirmation surgery and that she always dreamt of having a daughter[12]