As a beautiful missy at age Fifteen, Khambatta became Miss India and later entered the world of international films. She was as well the model for various corporations, including Revlon. Inside 1975, she had around the little role in The Wilby Conspiracy and went on to a brief motion picture career which involved the role for which she is virtually all recognized: Lieutenant Ilia in Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979). She followed this higher sustaining roles inside Nighthawks (1981) and Megaforce (1982) but she never really observed profits inside film. She besides manufactured guest appearances in Our contries TV shows.

In the early 1980s, Khambatta had to stand heart bypass. Around 1997 she wrote and published the coffee table book called "Pride of India" which featured former Miss Indias. A book was dedicated to Mother Teresa and part of the royalties went to the Missionaries of Charity.

Her final appearance around film & TV inside an acting section was that of an Indian ambassador in an episode of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman.

Khambatta was rushed to the Marine Hospital around South Mumbai complaintive of chest pains. She died of the massive heart attack in Bombay, India at age 47.