Rewrite URI with nginx and php-fpm. I have faced the problem that REQUEST_URI parameter is not changed on nginx rewrite rule. After some research I have found solution with replacing $request_uri variable.

nginx.conf

server {
    listen       80;
    server_name  site.dev;
    index        index.php;
    root         /Users/balkon_smoke/Sites/site.dev/web;

    error_log   /Users/balkon_smoke/Sites/site.dev/logs/error.log;
    access_log  /Users/balkon_smoke/Sites/site.dev/logs/access.log;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php;
    }

    # save and check current $request_uri
    set $request_url $request_uri;
    if ($request_uri ~ ^/categories/view/(.*)$ ) {
        # change it if condition is true
        set $request_url /?category=$1;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass 	127.0.0.1:9000;
        fastcgi_index 	index.php;
        include fastcgi_params;
        # replace it with modified
        fastcgi_param  REQUEST_URI $request_url;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        fastcgi_param HTTPS off;
    }
}