Zia Mohyeddin, who was he?

Zia Mohyeddin, born in 1931 and died on February 13, 2023,  was a well-known TV anchor and former actor, has recently made headlines for his remarkable journey in the entertainment industry.

Born and raised in Faisalabad, Zia always had a passion for performing arts. He would often put on plays for the villagers and entertain them with his acting skills. With the support of his family and friends, Zia moved to the city to pursue his dreams and eventually became a household name in the Indian television industry.

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Zia’s rise to fame was not without challenges. He faced several rejections and struggled to find his footing in the competitive world of acting. However, he never gave up and eventually landed a lead role in a popular TV soap opera. This was just the beginning of his successful career as an actor.

Zia spent his early life in Kasur and Lahore. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London from 1953 to 1956. After stage roles in Long Day’s Journey into Night and Julius Caesar, he made his West End debut in A Passage to India from 20 April to 3 December 1960 at the Comedy Theatre, running for 302 performances.

He made his film debut in Lawrence of Arabia (1962). Playing the role of Tafas (the Arab guide who is shot by Omar Sharif for drinking water from the wrong well). He then made numerous TV and film appearances. As an actor, he worked for nearly 47 years in the United Kingdom.

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Mohyeddin returned to Pakistan in the late 1960s. Between 1969 and 1973 he hosted the hugely popular television talk show, “The Zia Mohyeddin Show”, best remembered for Mohyeddin’s rap-style song segment, which he would introduce with his trademark phrase of “zara theka lagaiye”. He appointed Director of the PIA Arts Academy in 1973, a role he held until 1977. Around this time, he met and subsequently married the renowned Kathak dancer Nahid Siddiqui. Together they have a son, the percussionist and music producer, Hassan “Moyo” Mohyeddin.

Following differences with the military regime of General Zia-ul-Haq, Mohyeddin returned to the UK in the late 1970s. During the 1980s Zia worked in Birmingham, Great Britain. Where he produced Central Television’s flagship multicultural programme Here and Now (1986 – 1989), a weekly magazine program.

While working in Britain in the 1980s, he asked in an interview by a Pakistani news reporter whether he missed Pakistan. He replied that he certainly did. That it was his home country. He missed his friends there and the people of Pakistan.

He has since travelled the world giving Urdu poetry and prose recitations, and considered the foremost reader of Urdu literature. In addition, he is also famed for his readings of English letters and literature. Also in the mid-1990s, Mohyeddin married Azra, his third wife, with whom he has a daughter, Aaliya Mohyeddin, born in 2002 when Zia was nearly 70 years old.

In February 2005 then President of Pakistan Pervez Musharraf invited Mohyeddin to form the National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi, of which he has been President since its inception.[1]

Off-screen, Zia was known for his charitable work and passion for helping the underprivileged. He was a regular volunteer at a local orphanage and often used his platform to raise awareness about important social issues.