It was only some weeks ago, when summer break had finally begun, that I’d decided to search up live performances of Hamlet. Although my Literature teacher had been emphasising since the very first day that Shakespeare—or any other playwright for that matter—did not intend for plays to be studied in a classroom, rather experienced through a performance on stage, I knew that a youtube video of an actor delivering Hamlet’s monologues is the closest I’ll get to watching that play in a theatre anytime soon. And that was when I came across a 1970’s colourless recording of a young Pakistani Television broadcaster opening his evening show in the most elegant, refined Urdu and then reciting with such vigour, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, in an equally impressive British accent. It was unlike anything I’d seen before. I was mesmerized—by this man’s captivating stage presence, his brilliant command of both English and Urdu, and the passion with which he recited literature. The clip belonged to The Zia Mohyeddin Show of the 70’s, an all time favourite of many Pakistanis of that time. Little did I know, this short video would lead me to discover the most iconic theatre and literary legend of Pakistan.
Zia Mohiyuddin recites Shakespeare & Z.A.Bukhari recites Imtiaz Ali Taj – 1972
On this day he was born, the 20th of June, 1931 in Lyallpur, of East Punjab and British India. His father, Khadim Mohyeddin nurtured the love of the arts in him from an early age as he himself was a great director, producer, musicologist, playwright, and lyricist associated with various theatre groups. Zia studied drama in the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, and while that made him develop a lifelong connection with English Literature—notably Shakespeare—he also said that this time he spent in England, oddly enough, made him fall deeper in love with his own mother tongue, Urdu.
In the early 1950’s, he began working as a radio broadcaster for the BBC in London and gained popularity as a radio personality. Furthermore, in 1957, he became the first Asian actor to work with the Royal Shakespeare Company and performed in multiple productions such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and of course, Hamlet which were widely acclaimed. He said, in his keynote address as the speaker in a convocation at Habib University:
I have always put a great deal of emphasis on the way a language is spoken. Perhaps it is because of my training as an actor, but diction has a great importance for me, because I think clear and proper speech no matter what the language, is extremely necessary to me because it also means clarity of thought in some way.
I caught myself watching interview after interview, and from the ones he gave as a young actor to the ones he gave as a 90 year old director—all I found was consistency and clarity of thought. Zia sahab was someone who had truly mastered the art of speaking. He had this distinguished elegance that could never tire a person listening to him. I would watch an hour long interview, listen to lengthy recordings of his annual readings of Manto, Faiz, Ghalib, or Shakespeare, yet each time I felt a disappointment when the video would come to an end.
He treated language as the asset that it is; carefully picking his words and speaking with such impact and quiet confidence that it would leave anyone captivated. He nurtured his love for language through all of the arts; theatre, poetry, essays, storytelling and music. He said, “Language; the way it is manipulated and articulated, invigorates me.” He worked endlessly to revive love and respect for language in this country. Despite this extremely noble life of work—where he learnt, taught, wrote, and directed—he never wrote his own autobiography. Having been a perfectionist his entire life, he never was truly satisfied with his work in the sense that none of it ever met his expectations—how he’d planned for it to. He said, in an interview last year with ARY, that he didn’t regard himself as some great personality. Although millions would disagree, and as brilliant as his life of work was, he never thought it was worth writing about.
His work in Hollywood is quite underrated, where he made his film debut in Lawrence of Arabia as the Arab guide. After working in the United Kingdom for nearly 47 years, he returned to Pakistan in the late 60’s. He then hosted The Zia Mohyeddin Show and was also appointed as director in the PIA Arts Academy. While he was the embodiment of a perfect 70’s media personality—well dressed, charismatic, sophisticated, eloquent and witty—Zia sahab was never one for fame. After the airing of a few episodes of his show in the 70’s, he said that it became difficult for him to move around. “People would circle my car, feel proud for touching my shirt and try to get closer to me, whenever I went out. Autographs were the selfies back then and as I was not used to such adulation, I decided to give it a break,” he said at one of his sittings.
It is unfortunate that our generation remains deprived of his marvelous contributions to the world of art. He was referred to as a ‘walking encyclopedia’ because of his boundless knowledge of Literature and took the role of a mentor for many youths that he met throughout his lifetime. He became the founding CEO and director of the National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA) who directed numerous plays including his famous Urdu adaptation of Romeo and Juliet. Young aspiring actors were polished under Pakistan’s finest; the most renowned orator, director, playwright and actor of this country. He was a master of ‘Reader’s Theatre’ and introduced the young generation to poets and authors of Urdu Literature in his distinctive reading style that otherwise might have only reached a few. An Evening with Zia Mohyeddin—his annual readings in Lahore remained a tradition for 35 years where he would recite various selected prose and poetry. In a speech in Karachi he said:
“Books are to me, pure magic. Festive, curious, and full of other lives and voices and quiet existences, raised to the point of exuberance and excitement. Books portray and unearth characters who are perfectly ordinary to begin with and become extraordinary. Books reveal to me the world as it is and sometimes as it ought to be.”
Up until the last year of his life he was as active as a man in his 40’s, and while his back had become hunched, Zia’s voice had still retained its firm and impactful quality, his mind all the Shakespeare he’d read in his entire life, and his passion for work had grown even stronger.
Zia’s 2021 Urdu adaptation of Romeo and Juliet in NAPA
In multiple interviews he’d say, “I want to die with my boots on.” He wished to work for as long as he lived, and he did. His life motto, as he repeated in just as great a deal of interviews, remained unchanged even in the last speech he made in his life:
“Work is life. There is no point to life other than work.”
This was often followed by him reciting his favourite verse by Mir Taqi Mir;
“Iss zindagi karne ko kahan se jigar awey?”
Zia Sahab found solace in his work. It grounded him, calmed him, reminded him of the good that was still there in the world. And that was his advice to the rest of us. Whenever he was asked about the purpose of life, he replied, “Work.” He said that it was the only way to deal with everything else that was happening in the world. He wrote, “I have had my share of triumphs and disasters, setbacks and jubilations. I have never been in any doubt that the compulsive irrational human instinct — the Need to Act — gives rise to more disappointments than anything else, but I’d rather live through these than own a chain of Walmarts. The moment of elation as you step forward to take a bow and hear the surge of applause rise to a crescendo, compensates for all the frustrations that a theatrical career necessarily entails.”
Zia Mohyeddin was truly one of a kind, the kind that is born seldom in generations. A passionate and multi-talented artist, a kind and wise teacher, a father figure, a formidable speaker, a man of incomparable class, with excellent taste in literature and such a keen eye for detail, a true intellectual, but most importantly—a man true to himself. A man who achieved so much throughout his life but never let a crease of arrogance spread across his forehead. Zia Sahab, you are one of the reasons one feels proud to belong to Pakistan. On this day we remember someone who grew up to enrich the hearts of many with his own fervour for the arts. I hope your work, your voice, your presence, and your enchanting personality is discovered, remembered, and honoured by generations of Pakistan to come, just as it was by me when I first came across your clip from The Zia Mohyeddin Show. You have left a void, but just as great of a legacy when you passed away. Perhaps, in another lifetime, you would teach me how to recite Shakespeare and read aloud essays of Manto, as you break into short monologues in between those conversations.
By Noor Fatima Shahjahan,
Culture Editor, (2024-2025)