Amrita Singh was born into a distinguished Punjabi Sikh family which hailed from the village of Hadali in present-day Pakistan. Her father Shivinder Singh served in the army; her mother, Rukhsana Sultana, a renowned socialite of Muslim birth, is perhaps best known for her political activism during the Emergency Era. Amrita’s paternal great-grandfather, Sir Sobha Singh, was a noted civil contractor who not only made a substantial fortune during the building of New Delhi in the early decades of the 20th century, but also received a knighthood for his efforts. His younger son, and Amrita’s paternal grand-uncle, is the renowned littérateur Khushwant Singh.

In 1991, Amrita gave up acting in order to build a family with actor Saif Ali Khan, who is twelve years her junior. The couple had two children: a daughter named Sara and a son named Ibrahim. Saif languished at the fringes of Bollywood as a perennial aspirant for over a decade. He finally delivered a succession of hit films in the period 2001-04. The couple were separated in 2004 and Amrita now lives with her two young children.