Doli Saja Ke Rakhna directed by Priyadarshan was Jyothika’s debut Bollywood movie. Though the movie was not that successful at box office, her performance and talents was soon recognized by Tamil and Telugu film makers. She was approached for Kollywood and offered an appearance role in Vaali, which was her debut Kollywood movie, and she was awarded Best Debutante Filmfare Award – 1999 for her roles.
Her first Tamil movie as a heroine was Poovellam Kettuppar with Surya. A string of successful movies followed, among them Mugavari, Dum Dumk, Dum, and Kushi for which she won the Filmfare Award for the Best Actress (Tamil).
In 2003 she starred in Dhool with Vikram, in Kaaka Kaaka with Surya and in Thirumalai with Vijay. Other films include Nagarahavu (Kannada) and Tagore (Telugu). In 2004, she acted in a double role for Perazhagan and received the Dinakaran Best Actress Award and The Filmfare Best actress award for it.
In 2005, she acted in Manmadhan opposite Silambarasan and won praises for her role in it. Chandramukhi with Rajinikanth turned out to be most successful movie of her career as she has played a notable role in this movie. Chandramukhi was a remake of Kannada film Apthamithra which in-turn was a remake from Malayalam film Manichithrathazhu.
Her last films are Pachaikili Muthucharam, Mozhi and Manikanda in 2007. In Pachaikili Muthuchiram, Jothika played a negative role for the first time. She played a more exciting role of a self confident, strong and brave mute and deaf girl in Mozhi, and the movie was a great success. Moreover, her role in Archana is considered to be her best ever performance.