Napa pays glowing tribute to founder Zia Mohyeddin

The National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa) paid glowing tribute to its founding father and president emeritus, the legendary Zia Mohyeddin, on Thursday 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 so very 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 lqbal, Directors former senator 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 organised by Napa's newly constituted Continuing Education programme. The programme, led by Kulsoom Aftab who moderated the film screening, is Napa's way of opening its hallowed halls to everyone who wants to learn the performing arts through short courses, workshops and masterclasses. Along with these courses and classes, Continuing Education 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 Chairman Napa Board of Directors Syed Jawaid lqbal presented a bouquet to Zia Mohyeddin, while Director former senator Javed Jabbar presented a bouquet to Umar Riaz.