Meena Kumari, a veteran actress, worked in the Hindi film industry from the black and white era until 1972. In a prolific career that began as a child artist and ended with her premature tragic death, Meena Kumari worked in over ninety films. During this period, Kumari received a number of Filmfare awards for the Best Actress in her career, and worked in many classic films such as Baiju Bawra (1952), Parineeta (1953), Kohinoor (1960), Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi (1960), and Pakeezah (1972).

Born as Mahjabeen in 1932 in Bhera, a province of Punjab, she used Meena as a screen name and began her career in films at the young age of seven. In a big family, Meena's work as a child artist supplemented the family income. She began her career with Vijay Bhatt's Farzand-e-Watan (1939) and was soon working with a number of films as Baby Meena .

By the 1940s, Kumari was acting as the main lead in films, though most of the films that she worked in during this time were mythological films. Soon her presence in these films became so popular that she was seen essentially as the star of the mythological genre in Hindi films. She worked in a number of films during this time such as Veer Ghatotkach (1949), Shri Ganesh Mahima (1950), and fantasy films like Alladin and The Wonderful Lamp (1952). By the late 1940s, Kumari was commanding a handsome salary of Rs. 10,000 for a film. She however got stereotyped in the genre and feeling dissatisfied with this, started looking to expand her horizons to other genres. 

Vijay Bhatt's musical-drama, Baiju Bawra (1952) was received well throughout north India. With the film, Kumari became the first Indian actress to win the prestigious Filmfare Award for her performance in the film. She then went on to work in a number of successful films of the time such as Daera (1953), Ek Hi Raasta (1956), Sharda (1957), and Dil Apna Aur Preet Parayi (1960), Dil Ek Mandir (1963), Kaajal (1965), and Phool Aur Patthar (1966). This was the peak of Kumari's career.

In 1962, Meena Kumari was cast in the role of Choti Bahu, a neglected and alcoholic wife of a rich Zamindar in Abrar Alvi's classic, Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962). The role turned out to be pivotal in Kumari's career and her performance was hailed as one of the greatest in Indian cinema. The film went on to become a classic and one of Kumari's biggest hits. In an ironic turn of events, and the screen persona's overwhelming similarity to the star, Kumari started drinking heavily after her marriage with filmmaker Kamal Amrohi broke up. This affected her health and despite a streak of hits, Kumari began to lose out a number of film projects. By the 1970s, she starred in character roles in films like Jawab (1970) and Dushmun (1972).

During this time, however, Amrohi's shelved film project, Pakeezah (1972) was revived and the film was completed by ailing Kumari whose health had started rapidly deteriorating. The film went on to become a big success. However, Kumari didn't live to see the film or its success as she died of liver cirrhosis on 31st March 1972.  After her death, Vinod Mehta wrote a biography about her titled Meena Kumari: A Classic Biography (1972).

As a result of her tumultuous personal life, choice of extremely tragic roles in films and the ability to capture the rare emotions of her characters in various films, Meena Kumari was often referred to as “The Tragedy Queen.”