Imtiaz Ali Celebrates Mother’s 75th in Pahalgam; Fans React

SRINAGAR: Celebrated filmmaker Imtiaz Ali marked his mother’s 75th birthday with a quiet celebration in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, days after the tourist destination witnessed a deadly terror attack.

The ‘Rockstar’ director took to Instagram to share photographs and videos from the event. In the visuals, family members were seen wearing matching white t-shirts as they gathered for the cake-cutting ceremony in Pahalgam, a location closely associated with several of Ali’s past film projects.

“Gratitude and love as mom turns 75! In Pahalgam, Kashmir,” Ali wrote in his post.

One of the pictures shows the director sitting in the same room he had stayed in while shooting for his 2011 film ‘Rockstar’. “At my old haunt, the room I stayed in Pahalgam during Rockstar,” he captioned the image.

The celebration comes less than three months after 26 people, most of them tourists, were killed in a militant attack in Baisaran meadows on April 22, sending shockwaves across the region.

Following Ali’s post, several social media users expressed gratitude to the filmmaker for highlighting Pahalgam in a positive light amid difficult times.

“As a proud Kashmiri, I sincerely thank you for promoting Pahalgam once again after the heartbreaking event… Thank you for reminding the world of the real Kashmir—resilient, generous, and full of grace,” one Instagram user commented.

Pahalgam remains one of Kashmir’s most visited tourist destinations and has long served as a location for Indian cinema.