The road is named after flying ace of Pakistan Air Force, Air Commodore Muhammad Mahmood Alam who was the recipient of the Pakistani military decoration, the Sitara-e-Jurrat ("The star of courage") and a bar to it for his dog fight during the Indo Pakistan War of 1965 when he downed five Indian aircraft in less than a minute, the first four within 30 seconds, establishing a world record. It used to be a residential area, which quickly became commercial with the opening up of many private schools and later fashion studios like Jafferjees and international and national restaurants such as KFC, Nandos and Pizza Hut. It has been renovated to cope with the heavy traffic and night life of the area.