Her breakthrough came with the romance comedy Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991), which also emerged as her highest grossing release.

In the film, she portrayed a soul-searching teenage girl in an estranged relationship with her alcoholic father, played by actor Anupam Kher.

[6][7] Her biggest solo hit and her big screen debut came with the romantic comedy Dil Hai Ke Manta Nahin (1991) opposite Aamir Khan,[4] which is a remake of the Oscar-winning Hollywood classic It Happened One Night (1934).

Her most well-known films in the 1990s include Sadak[4] opposite Sanjay Dutt, one of the highest-grossing movies of the year 1991.

[10] In 1993, she appeared in many films including Jaanam which is about a boy and girl from opposing families who meet and fall in love, determined not to let the hate between their parents stand in the way of their happiness and Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee which was an Indian '90s melodious musical Hindi-language romance film.

This film is about a peace-loving college professor Amar, who loses his son in a war break-out between the two gang leaders.

[13] Her next release was Ashutosh Gowariker's thriller Pehla Nasha, co-starring Deepak Tijori, Raveena Tandon, and Paresh Rawal.

Then in 1996 Bhatt, stars in Chaahat opposite Shah Rukh Khan, the film earned a total of ₹6.87 crore (US$790,000) nett, and was declared "Below Average" by Box Office India.

Bhatt began 1997 with a role in Jyoti Prakash Dutta’s ensemble drama Border, the film was released worldwide on 13 June 1997 with positive reviews from critics and garnered critical acclaim for its story, execution, scale, showing off the battle, direction, screenplay, performances and soundtrack.

Border grossed a worldwide total of ₹655.7 million and it was the fourth biggest blockbuster film of the 90s decade.

Zakhm was based on the life of Mahesh Bhatt's mother Shirin Mohammad Ali, while she essayed her character in this film.

In 2001 Bhatt starred in an English-language drama film Everybody Says I'm Fine!, which was written and directed by Rahul Bose.

It also features Amruta Subhash, Shahana Goswami, Plabita Borthakur, Aadhya Anand and [Rahul Bose.

[37] In 2022, Bhatt joined Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Yatra, which resumed in Hyderabad.