Nirupa Roy was born Kokila Kishorechandra Bulsara in Valsad, Gujarat. She was married to Kamal Roy when she was 15 and moved to Mumbai. They have two sons, Yogesh and Kiran. She changed her first name when she entered the film industry. She was very friendly with actress Shyama. She died after having a cardiac arrest in Mumbai on 13 October 2004 at the age of 73. She was regarded as the greatest Mother of all time in Bollywood. She was Gujarati and taught children Gujarati before she acted in films.

In 1946, Roy and her husband responded to an advertisement in a Gujarati paper looking for actors. She was selected and started her acting career with the Gujarati film Ranakdevi. The same year she acted in her first Hindi film Amar Raj. One of her popular films was Do Bigha Zameen (1953). She largely played mythological characters in the films of the 1940s and 50's. Her image of a goddess was very strong and people would visit her home and seek her blessings. Among her co-stars were Trilok Kapoor (with whom she played in eighteen movies)), Bharat Bhushan, Balraj Sahni (Garam Coat, 1955) and Ashok Kumar.

In the 1970s, her role as mother to the characters played by Amitabh Bachchan and Shashi Kapoor made her name synonymous to the impoverished suffering mother. Her role in Deewar (1975) and its dialogues with reference to a mother and son are used as clichés.