Mahalingam trained as a singer during the time when microphones and amplifiers were rarely present in performance halls.

So it was that in 1933, when the prominent singer Kittappa died at the early age of 28, Mahalingam got his first break in films.

The film was based on the story of Lord Krishna wherein Mahalingam was chosen to play the lead role.

Mahalingam got his big break in the film Sri Valli made at the height of the Second World War, in which he played the part of Lord Murugan.

Many music directors gave him memorable songs, including S. V. Venkatraman, K. V. Mahadevan, Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy, G. Ramanathan, Sharma Brothers, T. A. Kalyanam, C. N. Pandurangan, Lalitha Venkatraman, T. Rajagopala Sarma, C. R. Subbaraman, T. G. Lingappa, S. Rajeswara Rao, R. Sudarsanam, and Kunnakkudi Vaidyanathan.