Born in Bombay, Saeed Mirza worked in the advertising industry before joining FTII, Pune. Saeed Mirza's early films, usually about the working class of Bombay, attempt a free-flowing narrative influenced by Brazilian films. He collaborated with K Hariharan, Mani Kaul and others to form the Yukt Film Co-operative where he made his first feature film, Arvind Desai Ki Ajeeb Dastaan.