No one can counter mediocrity like Zia: Khalid Ahmed | The Express Tribune

“My biggest fear is if we will ever be able to maintain the legacy left behind by Zia Mohyeddin,” said director Khalid Ahmed at the Zia Mohyeddin Festival being held at The National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa). The festival kicked off on Wednesday evening and will carry on till Saturday.

The four-day festival is a tribute to Napa’s late founder and president, Zia Mohyeddin who passed away on February 15 at the age of 91. The series of panel discussions and performances celebrates the legendary thespian and his remarkable work as an actor, orator, director and teacher.

Joining the panel on Wednesday were Board members Syed Jawaid Iqbal, Javed Jabbar, Dr Ishrat Husain, Arshad Mahmood, Mahtab Rashdi and Head of Theatre Arts at Napa, Khalid Ahmad.

“Just three days ago, I was rehearsing a play with a few Napa students, and a thought struck me, ‘If today someone makes a mistake with their enunciation, there would be no fear of punishment’. It was a heartbreaking realisation, knowing that Zia Mohyeddin wouldn’t be present over our heads, correcting us, helping us,” recalled Ahmed.

He believed that it will be a challenge for Napa to be at par with Mohyeddin’s talent and legacy. “Institutions are built with years of effort but it doesn’t take them much time to collapse,” he began. “We live in a society where we have ruined most of our institutions because of mediocrity, it spreads so quickly here and is accepted and celebrated in society.”

Speaking about the same, Rashdi mentioned how the Bombay Talkie performer touched many hearts during his lifetime. “Just walking into Napa used to make you wonder who the man in charge is. Zia was a public figure who inspired many individuals. Many wanted to meet him, others looked up to him. He was known to give life to words. We have seen many artists in our lifetime, but Zia had a specific quality that is scarcely found among us: professionalism,” she conveyed.

She further elaborated, “Whenever he used to sit with our board, he never interfered needlessly or tried to enforce his views on others. It was us, who had to first ask him to speak and only then he gave his opinion on the matter. He was a soft-spoken man who kept everyone happy.”

Rashdi concluded her account by focusing on Mohyeddin’s significance to Pakistan’s cultural landscape. “We haven’t truly accepted Zia Mohyeddin’s loss yet; it’s like the aftermath of a trauma, where the pain hasn’t hit us, but slowly, the wounds will appear. Similarly, over time, the world of film and literature will also feel the void left behind by Zia, if not now, then soon.”

Jawaid also highlighted how Zia’s eloquent oration made him an exceptional artist. He stated, “As a bilingual speaker, he was able to perfectly articulate both languages, English and Urdu, without ever mixing them up and that factor will always make him stand out from the rest.”

Rashdi too was an ardent fan of his oration skills, “Everyone has a distinctive manner of speaking, but preserving a language requires people to stay true to its linguistics, and that is what Zia did. He treasured the Urdu language like no other and when he spoke in a room full of people, he left everyone in awe.”

Javed reminisced about Mohyeddin’s ability to easily communicate sophisticated ideas. “What a pleasure it was to see how he blurred the lines of the conventional gulf that exists between literature and the masses. People normally can’t easily understand complex pieces, but he bridged that gap.”
Before concluding the session, a recorded message from popular Indian filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt was played for the audience. “Zia Mohyddyin had a charming smile, that filled the air with optimism and love,” he said. “Once I visited Pune to assess the performance of a play that was adapted from Daddy and Zia was present as well. However, after watching the show, most of us gave them ruthless critiques, except for Zia. Being the gracious man he was, Zia told me, ‘It was alright, they will improve with time’.”

“A true artist is someone who has a generous soul and always finds goodness in others like Zia. His spirit glued us together and brought cultures that have drifted from each other close again,” said Bhatt before ending the video.

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