[1] Acclaimed for her beauty in her youth, Malpekar was the muse of painters Raja Ravi Varma and M. V. Dhurandhar.

Anjanibai Malpekar was born on 22 April 1883, in Malpe, Pernem in Portuguese Goa, in music loving family that belonged to Goan Kalavant community.

[3] At a young age of 8, she started her musical training under the tutelage of Ustad Nazeer Khan of Bhendibazaar gharana.

After a successful career as a singer, after the death of her Guru Ustad Nazeer Khan in 1920, she lost interest in concerts.

In the coming decades, she taught some notable names in Indian classical music, including Kumar Gandharva who was her first disciple,[11] Kishori Amonkar,[11][12] Pandit T.D.