Zia Mohyeddin

Born: 1931-06-20

Zia Mohyeddin (1931-2023) was a British-Pakistani polymath and actor famed for his voice. Born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad), British India in a Urdu-Speaking family, he spent his early life in Karachi. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London from 1953-1956. After stage roles in Long Day's Journey Into Night and Julius Caesar, he made his West End debut in A Passage to India in 1960. His film debut was in Lawrence of Arabia in 1963, 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, and starred as Dr Aziz in the 1965 BBC television version of A Passage to India. He returned to Pakistan in the late 1960s. There he founded and ran the PIA Arts and Dance Academy, and hosted his own TV talk show. Around this time he met and subsequently (in 1973) married the classical dancer Naheed Siddiqui. However, after difficulties with the regime Mohyeddin returned to England in the late 1970s, shortly followed by his wife. During the 1980s Zia worked in Birmingham, Great Britain, where he produced Central Television's flagship multicultural programme Here and Now. He resumed his acting career in Europe, appearing in small roles in various movies and television programs. He traveled the world giving Urdu poetry and prose recitations. In the late 1990s, Zia remarried, and had a daughter with his wife, Azra. In February 2005 President Pervez Musharraf invited Mohyeddin to act as Chairman of the new National Academy of Performing Arts in Karachi. Until his death, Zia was very active among Pakistani media as a speaker and hosted several TV programs both for National and Private Channels. He was also involved in narrating some abstract short films and commercials


See
Placeholder

as Tafas
Released: 1962-12-11

The story of British officer T.E. Lawrence's mission to aid the Arab tribes in their revolt...

Movie page
See!

Khartoum

as Zobeir Pasha
Released: 1966-06-09

English General Charles George Gordon is appointed military governor of Anglo-Egyptian Sudan by...

Movie page

Ashanti

as Djamil
Released: 1979-02-21

Dr. Anansa Linderby is kidnapped in a medical mission in Africa by a slave trader. From this...

Movie page

Behold a Pale Horse

as Luis, Guide of Paco
Released: 1964-08-14

Manuel Artiguez, a famous bandit during the Spanish civil war, has lived in French exile for 20...

Movie page

Doomsday Gun

as Hashim
Released: 1994-07-23

Dr Gerald Bull was a genius at designing and building superguns (very large long range guns...

Movie page

Immaculate Conception

as Shehzada
Released: 1992-09-11

Alistair, a British representative for a wildlife conservation agency based in Karachi and his...

Movie page

They Came from Beyond Space

as Farge
Released: 1967-05-01

A group of scientists are possessed by an alien force when they investigate a meteor shower in a...

Movie page

Deadlier Than the Male

as King Fedra
Released: 1967-02-12

British agent Bulldog Drummond is assigned to stop a master criminal who uses beautiful women to...

Movie page

Sammy Going South

as The Syrian
Released: 1963-03-18

After he is orphaned by an air raid on Port Said during the Suez Crisis, a young boy attempts to...

Movie page

The Sailor from Gibraltar

as Noori
Released: 1967-01-01

Alan, after quarreling with his girlfriend Sheila, becomes intrigued by Anna, a mysterious widow...

Movie page

Bombay Talkie

as Hari
Released: 1970-11-18

An English novelist travels to Bombay to watch one of her novels translated to film. She chases...

Movie page

A Passage to India

as Dr Aziz
Released: 1965-11-16

The BBC's 1965 adaptation of E.M. Forster's novel, screened as part of their Play of the Month...

Movie page

King of the Ghetto

as Timur Hussein
Released: 1986-05-01

An idealistic former soldier helps unite and house ethnic minorities in a run down area of...

Movie page

Partition

as uncredited
Released: 1987-08-19

The tumultuous events surrounding the sub-continent's partition in 1947 into India and Pakistan...

Movie page

Shalom Salaam

as Sadiq Sattar
Released: 1989-04-26

Two disparate families become intertwined when a Jewish man and a Muslim woman fall in love...

Movie page

Work Is a 4-Letter Word

as Dr Aly Narayana
Released: 1968-09-15

Dreamlike satire about a young man who resists getting a job at the lone employing conglomerate...

Movie page

Ghazi Shaheed

as Narrator
Released: 1996-09-06

The film covers a story of mysterious loss of Pakistani submarine PNS Ghazi. She has...

Movie page

Some Lover to Some Beloved

as Zia Mohyeddin
Released:

Inspired by John Gielgud, veteran Pakistani actor Zia Mohyeddin ('Lawrence of Arabia', 'A...

Movie page

Minder

as Tajvir
First aired: 1979-10-29

This comedy drama series featured Terry McCann, a former boxer with a conviction for G.B.H., and...

TV Show page

The Avengers

as uncredited
First aired: 1961-01-07

The Avengers is a British television series created in the 1960s. It initially focused on Dr....

TV Show page

BBC Play of the Month

as Dr. Aziz
First aired: 1965-10-19

Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and...

TV Show page

BBC Play of the Month

as Bandi Grosz
First aired: 1965-10-19

Play of the Month is a BBC television anthology series featuring productions of classic and...

TV Show page

Sir Francis Drake

as King Philip of Spain
First aired: 1961-11-12

Sir Francis Drake was a British adventure television series starring Terence Morgan as Sir...

TV Show page

Bergerac

as Adnan Rashid
First aired: 1981-10-18

Bergerac is a British television show set on Jersey. Produced by the BBC in association with the...

TV Show page

Man in a Suitcase

as uncredited
First aired: 1967-09-27

Accused of treason, a former U.S. intelligence officer based in London tries to clear his name,...

TV Show page

The Champions

as Prengo
First aired: 1968-09-25

The Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series...

TV Show page

The Expert

as Lutaf Adamjee
First aired: 1968-07-05

The Expert is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1968 and 1976. The series...

TV Show page

King of the Ghetto

as Timur Hussein
First aired: 1986-05-01

BBC Drama about racial tensions in London's east end in the 1980s.

TV Show page