Nafisa Ali was born in Kolkata the daughter of Ahmed Ali a Bengali Muslim by his wife Philomena Torresan a Roman Catholic of AngloIndian heritage Nafisas paternal grandfather S Wajid Ali was a prominent Bengali writer Her paternal aunt fathers sister was ZaibunNissa Hamidullah a Pakistani journalist and feminist Nafisa is also related to the decorated Bangladeshi freedom fighter and soldier Bir Pratik Akhtar Ahmed Nafisas mother is now settled in Australia Nafisa went to Sr Cambridge from La Martiniere Calcutta She has also studied Vedanta taught by Swami Chinmayananda who started the center Chinmaya Mission of World Understanding Her husband is the renowned polo player and Arjuna awardee retired Col RS Sodhi After marriage she chose to stop working and focus on her three children daughters Armana Pia and son Ajit After a break of 18 years she returned to the film industry