Kavita Kaushal was born as Uma Kashyap in Lahore. She was the daughter of Prof. Shiv Ram Kashyap, Professor of Botany, University of Punjab at Lahore, British India (present-day Pakistan). She was seven when she lost her father.

She had to marry her brother-in-law, B.S. Sood, in 1948, after her elder sister died in a car accident, leaving behind two daughters. JKavita later had three sons, Rahul, Vidur and Shravan with her husband.

She made her debut in the industry with the film Neecha Nagar (1946), for which she won an award at the Montreal Film Festival for her performance in her debut film.

She shared how she changed her name during her first film, Neecha Nagar, which was offered to her by Chetan Anand, saying, "Chetan`s wife Uma Anand was also part of the film. My name also being Uma, he wanted a different name for me. I asked him to give me a name beginning with `K` to match with the names of my daughters Kumkum and Kavita."

She won a number of awards and accolades for her performance throughout her career. In 1956, she even won the Filmfare Award for Best Actress for her role in Biraj Bahu.

She has worked with Dilip Kumar in several films, and was often regarded as one of the most powerful pairs on screen. Their frequent collaboration sparked romance between them. Dilip Kumar even called Kamini his first love. 

Kamini, too, had feelings for Kumar but rejected his proposal. She later revealed, "We were both shattered. We were very happy with each other. We shared a great rapport. But what to do? That`s life. I can`t dump people and say `Enough now, I`m going!` I had taken on the girls. I wouldn`t be able to show my face to my sister. My husband, a fine human being, understood why it happened. Everyone falls in love."

Kamini was also one of the highest-paid actresses of the late 1940s, having appeared in Box Office India`s Top Actresses list twice, in 1947 and 1948. In 2022, she was named among Outlook India`s 75 Best Bollywood Actresses list.

After gaining prominence as he heroine of Dilip Kumar, she later shot to fame for playing the character of Manoj Kumar`s mother in several films. In fact, she was called Bharat Kumar`s mother back in the day.

She also starred alongside Dharmendra in four movies. He-Man posted a picture with Kamini a few years back, recalling their first meeting.

Her last full-fledged appearance was in the 2018 film Kabir Singh, wherein she played Shahid Kapoor`s grandmother.

Post that, she also appeared in a cameo role in 2022`s Laal Singh Chadha starring Aamir Khan.

Known as India`s oldest living actress, Kamini died at the age of 98 in Mumbai on November 14, 2025, marking th end of her illustrous era.