

Meena Kumari was born with the name Mahjabeen in a family of poor theatre artists, Ali Bux and Iqbal Begum on 1 August 1933. Hem Sundari had two daughters one of them was Prabhawati, Meena Kumari's mother. After the death of her husband, being forced by his family, she left for Meerut, became a nurse, married a Christian named Pyare Lal Shakir Meeruti (1880–1956) who was an Urdu journalist and embraced Christianity.

It is said that Meena Kumari's grandmother, Hem Sundari Tagore was either the daughter or a widow of Rabindranath Tagore's distant cousin. Before meeting and then marrying Ali Bux, she was a stage actress and dancer under the stage name "Kamini" and was said to be related to the well known Tagore family of Bengal. Iqbal Begum was the second wife of Ali Bux.

Meena Kumari's mother Iqbal Begum, whose original name was Prabhawati Devi, was a Christian who later converted to Islam upon marriage with Ali Bux. He was a veteran of Parsi theater, played harmonium, taught music, wrote Urdu poetry, played small roles in films such as Eid Ka Chand and composed music for films like Shahi Lutere. Meena Kumari's father was a Sunni Muslim named Master Ali Bux who had migrated from Bhera (now in Punjab province of Pakistan). 9.2 Bengal Film Journalists' Association Awards.4.3 Deteriorating health and treatment in London (1968).4.2 Separation from husband and addiction to alcohol (1964).3.4 Tragedy Queen of Indian Cinema (1957).Critics often noted that her character in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam was similar to the story of her own life. In the 13th Filmfare Awards (1966), Kumari won her last Best Actress award for Kaajal. Kumari made history at the 10th Filmfare Awards (1963), by receiving all three of the Best Actress nominations, and won for her performance in Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam. She was the recipient of the inaugural Filmfare Best Actress Award for Baiju Bawra in 1954 and had a consecutive win in the second Filmfare Awards (1955) for Parineeta. Meena Kumari won four Filmfare Awards in the Best Actress category. In a career spanning 33 years, she starred in about 92 films such as Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam, Pakeezah, Mere Apne, Aarti, Baiju Bawra, Parineeta, Dil Apna Aur Preet Parai, Foot Path, Dil Ek Mandir and Kaajal. Kumari was described by critics as a "historically incomparable" actress of Hindi cinema. Popularly known as The Tragedy Queen, she was active between 19. Meena Kumari (born Mahjabeen Bano 1 August 1933 – 31 March 1972) was an Indian actress and poet, who worked in Hindi films.
