As a teenage ardent film fan, she revealed that her room was full of posters featuring Sridevi, and when the school bus used to cross Filmistan Studios, she used to crane her neck out to catch a glimpse of the artistes.

Later in 1997, Tamil director T. Rajender signed her to play the lead role of a pop singer in his romantic drama film, Monisha En Monalisa (1999).

Her performance in the song "Kattipudi Kattipudida" won her appreciation and further film offers, and as a result, Mumtaj was able to increase her appearance fee substantially.

[9][10] In her subsequent projects, rather than her acting skills, her performances in song sequences won her appreciation and she regularly accepted to feature in item numbers.

[11] In 2003, she turned producer and financed the film Thathi Thavadhu Manasu, featuring her alongside rookie actresses Sona, Urvasi Patel and Sindhuri in the leading roles.