Zia Mohyeddin


Zia Mohyeddin is a British-Pakistani actor, producer, director and television broadcaster who has appeared in both Pakistani cinema and television as well as in British cinema and television throughout his career.
Zia Mohyeddin is famous for his blockbuster Pakistan Television talk show named after him
Zia Mohyeddin Show. He is also known for originating the role of Dr. Aziz in the stage play of A Passage to India. He also appeared in Lawrence of Arabia.

Early life and career

Zia Mohyeddin was born in Lyallpur,, British India, in a family originally from Rohtak, East Punjab, British India. His father, Khadim Mohyeddin, was a mathematician, musicologist, playwright and lyricist associated with various theatre groups.
Zia spent his early life in Kasur and Lahore. He was 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, playing the role of Tafas. He then made numerous TV and film appearances. As an actor, he worked for nearly 47 years in the United Kingdom.
His first wife was Sarwar Zemani with whom he had two sons, Minos Ameer and Risha Ameen.

Return to Pakistan and later career

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 was 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, a weekly magazine program.
While working in Britain in the 1980s, he was 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 is considered the foremost reader of Urdu literature. In addition, he is also famed for his readings of English letters and literature. 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.
Though now in his 80s, Mohyeddin is still active in the Pakistani media as a speaker and he regularly hosts television programmes for national and private channels. He is also involved in narrating short films and commercials.

Films