Page 8 of 31
INTRODUCTION
Imtiaz Ali is an unconventional contemporary film director, producer and writer who likes to convey his stories in an artistic manner. His movies are exceptionally real and characters are flawed, full of imperfections which make his movies even more realistic and relatable. He fathoms the conscious and unconscious of the audience and that’s how he has carved a niche for himself- cult director of romance genre. His movies are more inclined towards the philosophical aspect, in which many of his characters go through some kind of ‘self-discovery’ journey where two damaged souls attempting to heal each other through a journey. Imtiaz Ali was born in Darbhanga and spent some of his early years in Patna. He belongs to the Muslim family of Darbhanga in Bihar. He comes from a farming background; his father was a contractor who did irrigation job. His uncle through his mother is Pakistani TV actor. He did his early education in St. Michael’s high school, Patna and later in D.B.M.S. English School, Jamshedpur and later attended Hindu College, University of Delhi, where he took part in the college theatre and was also in Ibtida, the dramatics society of the college. Thereafter he moved to Mumbai and did diploma course from Xavier Institute of Communication. He’s now married to Preety Ali and also has a daughter named Ida Ali who is also a director. Imtiaz began his career directing TV programmes including Kurukshetra for Zee TV and Imtihaan for Doordarshan. He started his career with writing and television shows before making his directional debut Socha Na Tha with Abhay Deol-Ayesha Takia which was released in 2005, a simple romance escorted by multiple plot twist. He quoted later that it took 3 years to make that film. Socha Na Tha revolves around two strangers embarking on an impromptu journey and opening themselves to discovery. Jab We Met and Rockstar brought him into the spotlight. Jab We Met bequeathed him his special place in the Bollywood, apart from the huge success at the box office, this movie became turning point of his career in the commercial film industry, and quite surprisingly the entire script of Jab We Met was finished in two and a half day. Imtiaz Ali in an interview quoted “It was written in a very short period of time but then, it had been on my mind for long. So, when I wrote it was very quick; it just took about two days to finish. It is awesome; it is a blessing that the film is still being talked about. I have very good memories but I also have
