Imtiaz Ali Separates From His Wife

In July 2012, reports in the Mumbai press said that Imtiaz Ali — the director of Jab We Met and Rockstar — had separated from his wife Preety.

The news landed quietly, as befitted one of Bollywood's least-publicized marriages. Unlike the industry's celebrity couples, the Alis had kept their private life almost entirely out of the press; there were no joint red-carpet circuits, no magazine spreads about their home. The separation was reported as a mutual, low-drama parting, and the couple — who had a young daughter — did not comment publicly.

The tabloid framing, inevitably, tried to fit the story into Bollywood's favorite narrative: the director and the leading lady. The industry's history was full of director-actress romances, from the classics to the contemporary — and the gossip press was quick to speculate along those lines.

But there was no public evidence for any such story in the Alis' case, and the responsible version of events stayed with what was known: a private couple, a reported separation, a family handling it out of the spotlight.

Imtiaz and Preety Ali's divorce was finalized later that year, again without public spectacle — consistent with how they had lived their marriage: away from the cameras.