Zia Mohyeddin was a British-Pakistani film actor, producer, director, and television broadcaster who appeared in both Pakistani cinema and television, as well as in British cinema and television throughout his career.
15 Facts About Zia Mohyeddin
1.
2.
Zia Mohyeddin was known for originating the role of Dr Aziz in the stage play of A Passage to India.
3.
Zia Mohyeddin was born in Lyallpur, British India, to an Urdu-speaking family originally from Rohtak, East Punjab, British India.
4.
Zia Mohyeddin's father, Khadim Mohyeddin, was a mathematician, musicologist, playwright, and lyricist associated with various theatre groups.
5.
Zia Mohyeddin was trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London from 1953 to 1955.
6.
Zia Mohyeddin reprised this role in the 1965 BBC television adaptation as well.
7.
Zia Mohyeddin made his film debut in Lawrence of Arabia, playing the role of Tafas.
8.
Between 1969 and 1973, he hosted the 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".
9.
Zia Mohyeddin was appointed director of the PIA Arts Academy.
10.
Zia Mohyeddin produced and starred in the first soap opera with a British Asian cast, Family Pride.
11.
Zia Mohyeddin replied that he did, that it was his home country, and that he missed his friends there and the people of Pakistan.
12.
Zia Mohyeddin then travelled the world giving Urdu poetry and prose recitations, as well as readings of English letters and literature.
13.
Zia Mohyeddin commented unfavourably on reciters who would habitually pause after every rhyming couplet, or "hammer" out the verses without regard for rhythm.
14.
Zia Mohyeddin married his third wife Azra Bano Zaidi in 1994.
15.
Zia Mohyeddin died on 13 February 2023, at the age of 91.