Imtiaz Ali (born 16 June 1971) is an Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is best known for directing Jab We Met (2007), Love Aaj Kal (2009), Rockstar (2011), Highway (2014) and Tamasha (2015).
Imtiaz Ali was born in Jamshedpur and spent some of his early years in Patna. Imtiaz belongs to the Muslim family of Jamshedpur in Bihar (now Jharkhand). His father Mansoor Ali was a contractor who did irrigation job, and as a child he would sometimes accompany him, which gave Imtiaz a sense of what was going on in the innards of India. His uncle, through his mother, is Pakistani TV actor and director/producer Khalid Ahmed.[8][9] He had his early education in St. Michael's High School,Patna and later in D.B.M.S. English School, Jamshedpur, He is the brother of director Arif Ali (who made his directional debut with the film Lekar Hum Deewana Dil)
He attended Hindu College, University of Delhi, where he took part in college theater. He was very successful in college. He also started Ibtida, the dramatics society of the college. Thereafter he moved to Mumbai and did a diploma course from Xavier Institute of Communication.
Imtiaz is married to Preety Ali. They have a daughter named Ida Ali, who is also a director.
Imtiaz Ali divorced his wife, Preety Ali, who he was married to, for 10 years in 2012. Preety and Imtiaz, both hail from Jamshedpur and had been together since the director`s struggling days. They have a daughter, Ida Ali.
Imtiaz began his career directing TV programs including Kurukshetra for Zee TV and Imtihaan for Doordarshan. He moved on to Bollywood films. In 2005, he made his directorial debut with Socha Na Tha starring Abhay Deol and Ayesha Takia. He quoted, later in a talk, that it took him three years to make the film.
His second film, Jab We Met, starred then real-life couple Kareena Kapoor and Shahid Kapoor, and became a box office success. His next film, Love Aaj Kal starred Saif Ali Khan and Deepika Padukone, and emerged as his biggest commercial success to date. Ali's next film Rockstar, starring Ranbir Kapoor, did well at the box office despite mixed reviews with praise for Kapoor's performance and A.R. Rahman's music which has now achieved cult status.[citation needed]
Ali founded his film production company, Window Seat Films; whose first release was Highway. Starring Randeep Hooda and Alia Bhatt, the film was well appreciated by critics and is credited as one of his best films. His next production film, Tamasha, starred Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone in the lead roles and was released to mixed reviews on 27 November 2015, although it has went on to achieve cult status for its subject inspiring many youngsters later on and has been recognised as one of Ali's best films. The movie was a moderate success and opened to good reviews from cities.
His next directorial venture Jab Harry Met Sejal, starring Shah Rukh Khan and Anushka Sharma in lead roles, was released in August 2017. The film released to negative reviews in India, even though it did well overseas. His next release after 3 years, Love Aaj Kal, starring Kartik Aaryan and Sara Ali Khan, released on 14 February 2020, and opened to negative reviews.
| # | Released Date | Type | Credited As | Movie |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 Apr 2024 | Film | Director | Amar Singh Chamkila |
| 2 | 11 Nov 2022 | Film | Producer | Thai Massage |
| 3 | 14 Feb 2020 | Film | ProducerDirectorStory WriterScreenplay | Love Aaj Kal |
| 4 | 07 Sep 2018 | Film | ProducerChoreographyScreenplayStory Writer | Laila Majnu |
| 5 | 04 Aug 2017 | Film | ProducerDirectorStory writerScreenplay | Jab Harry Met Sejal |
| 6 | 16 Dec 2016 | Film | Director | Shor Se Shuruaat |
| 7 | 27 Nov 2015 | Film | DirectorStory writer | Tamasha |
| 8 | 21 Feb 2014 | Film | ProducerDirectorStory WriterScreenplayDialogue | Highway |
| 9 | 13 Jul 2012 | Film | Story writerScreenplay | Cocktail |
| 10 | 11 Nov 2011 | Film | DirectorStory writerScreenplayDialogue | Rockstar |
| 11 | 31 Jul 2009 | Film | DirectorStory writerScreenplay | Love Aaj Kal |
| 12 | 26 Oct 2007 | Film | DirectorStory writerScreenplayDialogue | Jab We Met |
