Meena Kumari, real name Mahajabeen Ali Bux, daughter of the Parsee theatre actor and music teacher Ali Bux and the dancer Iqbal Begum. Having hit upon hard times and living near Rooptara Studios, Ali Bux sought to get his daughters into films. Mahjabeen entered films as Baby Meena in Vijay Bhatt`s Leatherface (1939). Her screen name was given her for the film Baiju Bawra (1952).

Meena Kumari was famous for her social films like Parineeta (1953) and Do Bigha Zameen (1953). The tragic dimensions to her screen persona were confirmed by successes like Kamal Amrohi`s Daera (1953), Bimal Roy`s Yahudi (1958), and Guru Dutt`s Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962). Thus, she was known as the `Tragedy Queen.` However, she didnt want people to know her only for a tradegy style but also as an actress who can depict light-hearted roles as well. Thus, she too chose more such roles in between like Azaad (1955), Miss Mary (1957), Shararat (1959) and Kohinoor (1960). however apart from such roles, her most famous film, till date remains Pakeezah (1971), which was made by her husband Kamal Amrohi. They had separated but reconciled their differences to complete the film.

On March 31, 1972, Meena Kumari was extremely sick and had to be admitted to hospital where she was on oxygen for four hours. She left bits and pieces of Urdu poetry for Gulzar. Meena Kumari`s last film was Gomti Ke Kinare (1972). Tanha Chand, a collection of her Urdu poems under the pseudonym Naaz was compiled by Gulzar and published after her death. Pakeezah became a box-office superhit after her death and she has since acquired the legendary status and Pakeezah is regarded as her best film.