Mala launched her professional career in 1986. Over the years her work has appeared in many publications in India such as Desh, Discover India, Frontline, Insight Guide, Indian Express, Kolkata Inner Eye, Namaste, Sananda, Signature, Sportstar, Swagat, Times of India etc.. In the UK her work has been featured in the BBC Bulletin, The Cricketer magazine and the India Weekly journal; In Australia, in 'Close Up', a Sports magazine and in Germany, in a 2004 tourist guide titled 'Indien'. One of her photographs adorn the cover page of the American novelist S.H.Fracis' work titled 'A ticket to Minto'.

She taught Photography at The School , KFI, Chennai during 1986/1989. In 1990 she moved to London and completed a four year Certificate and Diploma Course in Applied Art and Design Studies at the London Guildhall University. In 1993 she was awarded the Owen Rowley Art Prize by the Owen Rowley Art Foundation in London. She was among the prize winners in 'Our Big City' competition organised jointly by the Evening Standard Newspaper Group and Carlton Television in London in October 1993. She was nominated for the Leopold Godowsky Jr. colour photography Awards for 1997 held at the Photographic Resource Centre, Boston.

Apart from participating in Group shows at various Galleries in London during 1991/ 92, she has held Solo exhibitions at the :
Cottons Centre - London 1991&1992 , St.Giles Church - Oxford 1993, Sakshi Gallery-Bangalore 1994, Y.B.Chavan Art Gallery-Mumbai 1995 , B.C.D. Gallery-Mumbai 1995, Sakshi Gallery-Chennai 1995, Birla Academy Art Gallery-Calcutta 1995 , Nehru Centre Art Gallery-Mumbai 1995 ,

The Piramal Gallery-Mumbai 1996, Lalit Kala Akademi-New Delhi 1997, India International Centre Gallery-New Delhi 1998 , Lalit Kala Akademi-Chennai 1999 , Nehru Centre Art Gallery-Mumbai 1999, La galerie de l'Alliance Française de Dhaka, Bangladesh-2000, Birla Academy Art Gallery-Calcutta 2001, Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta & Gallerie Zen - Bangalore 2002, Nandan Gallery at Kala Bhavan, Santiniketan 2002, Academy of Fine arts, Calcutta 2004 & Gorky Sadan, Kolkata, 2004 .

She took part in "Women '96", an Art Front Group show at the Jehangir Art Gallery-Mumbai , Group exhibitions at the Nehru Centre Art Gallery - Mumbai 1997 ,Y.B. Chavan Art Gallery-Mumbai 1998 , Academy of Fine Arts - Calcutta 2001 and at Guildhall University-London 2001.

In 2002, BLINK, a publication by the Phaidon Press, London, has featured her and her work among 100 contemporary Photographers of the world.

She conducted a Workshop at Dhaka and Sylhet in 2003 on Colour Photography at the invitation of Drik, Bangladesh.