Pratima Bandopadhyay's ancestors came from Baherak (Bengali: বাহেরক), Bikrampur (now Munshiganj), Dhaka, Bangladesh.

She started taking lessons in music at a very early age from Sri Prakash Kali Ghoshal.

She made her debut in playback singing in Bengali films in 1951 when she recorded "Totini ami, Tumi sudurer chand" under the music direction of Shri Sudhirlal Chakraborty in film "Sunandar Biye".

Over three decades, she lent her voice to more than 65 Bengali movies and numerous non-film songs.

[citation needed] After the death of Pratima's husband Shri Amiyo Kumar Bandyopadhyay in 1986, her health deteriorated rapidly, and on 29 July 2004 she breathed her last.