NAPA paid glowingtribute to Zia Mohyeddin

F.P. Report

Karachi: The National Academy of Performing Arts (NAPA )paid glowing tribute to its founding father and President Emeritus , the legendary Zia Mohyeddin on Thursday 19 May with the screening of ‘Some Lover to Some Beloved’, a feature documentary chronicling Zia Mohyeddin’s life directed by his own grand-nephew Umar Riaz.
The documentary also features two personalities who made an indelible mark on Zia Mohyeddin –— Faiz Ahmed Faiz and Dr Dawood Rehbar. The energy in the room was warm and vibrant as the audience knew that Zia Mohyeddin was also viewing the complete film for the first time and was in their midst.
“The aura of Mr Zia is enough to captivate us, but the experience of watching a film about him, with him sitting behind me and me on the carpet in front of him, was just something else”, quipped a young man in the audience. The sold-out event saw a packed Zia Mohyeddin Theatre with fans and well-wishers seated right up the aisle and to the doors and some people had to sadly be turned away due to capacity constraints.
Notable attendees included Chairman, NAPA Board of Directors Syed Jawaid Iqbal, Board Directors Senator (R) Javed Jabbar and Shahrukh Hasan and Zia sahab’s wife and senior artist Azra Mohyeddin. Playing friendly host for the evening was NAPA CEO Junaid Zuberi, who primarily envisioned the event. This screening was organized by NAPA’s newly constituted Continuing Education (CE) program. The program, led by Kulsoom Aftab who moderated the film screening, is NAPA’s way of opening it’s hallowed halls to everyone who wants to learn the performing arts through short courses, workshops and masterclasses. Along with these courses and classes, CE will also offer talks and lectures, panel discussions and film screenings as was this one, all in a bid to make learning more accessible and convenient for people with busy schedules and hectic lives.
The screening was followed by brief comments by Zia Mohyeddin who thanked the audience and said that this was the first time he watched the complete film . Director Umar Riaz who flew in from Lahore for the screening was present on the stage. Later NAPA Board Chairman Syed Jawaid Iqbal presented a bouquet to Zia Mohyeddin while Board Member Javed Jabbar presented a bouquet to Umar Riaz.