Meena Kumari (real name: Mahajabeen) was born on August 1, 1932 in Bombay to actress, Iqbal Begum and music director, Ali Baksh. She had two sisters, of which the elder being actress Khursheed Junior, and Baby Madhuri.

At the age of seven, she began her film career as Baby Meena in Vijay Bhatt's film Leather Face or Farzand-e-Watan (1939) produced by Prakash Pictures. In her early days she did playback for her sister Madhuri and sang her own songs in many films. After working in about 15 pictures as a child, she got her first grownup role in Bachchon Ka Khel (1946). Then Homi Wadia casted her as a chhota goddess in a mythological, titled Veer Ghatotkach (1949). She continued portraying similar roles in such films as Hanuman Patal Vijay (1951), Laxmi Narayan (1951) and others. But she came to establish herself as a star in Prakash Pictures' Baiju Bawra (1952). From this time onward, a determined Meena Kumari stuck on to become one of the greatest actresses of her time.

Her versatility came into fore with films like Parineeta (1953), Ek hi Raasta (1956) and Sharda (1957). Parineeta became a turning point in her career. Her evocative portrayal of the perennially suffering Indian woman struck a responsive chord in millions of women. She was never really able to shake off this image of a tragedienne, and at times this severely impeded her in the exercise of the full range of her histrionic talents. The following years saw her appear in a number of films, where she played many, largely indistinguishable, self-mortifying women. With Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi (1960) she earned herself the title of a Tragedy Queen. 

At the same time, she performed a well-balanced comedy role with Dilip Kumar in Koh-i-Noor (1960). She gave outstanding performances in Sahib Biwi Aur Ghulam (1962), Aarti (1962), Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Kaajal (1965) and Phool Aur Pathar (1965), that eventually established her as the most successful actress of the time.

During later times she played memorable character roles in films like Jawaab (1970), Dushman (1971) and Mere Apne (1971).

She was married to Producer-Director Kamal Amrohi who directed some of her best films. The marriage ended in 1964

Her last film Pakeezah (1971), directed by her husband Kamal Amrohi, took 17 years in the making. Within weeks of its release she died on March 31, 1972.

She was also a poet in her own right, and was able to lend to the characters she played a certain poetic tenderness and intensity. A collection of her poems in Urdu under the pen name Naaz were published after her death.