KARACHI: A documentary titled The Colour of My Heart — Rung Hai Dil Ka Mere directed by Umar Riaz premiered at a local multiplex on Saturday evening. The film focuses on the life and work of the internationally renowned artist and the founder of the National Academy of Performing Arts (Napa), the late Zia Mohyeddin.
Talking to Dawn, Mr Riaz said, “This is a film 15 years in the making. We took the first shots in December 2010. It is about Zia Mohyeddin reciting poetry and it’s shot in a poetic style. The idea is not just [to] present that Zia sahib was born in so and so year, he did this and that, but to delve into how his mind and heart worked, and how he executed his craft.”
He said the documentary is partially a biographical account but there’s a lot more to it. Answering the question about Zia sahib being a difficult man, he said, “Yes, that’s why the film took 15 years to make and to convince him. I think he saw that I was very passionate about telling not just his story, but that amazing generation including [poet] Faiz Ahmed Faiz. The film is built around his reading of Faiz.”
On the subject of his target audience, the young filmmaker, who is the son of Zia sahib’s nephew, Naveed Riaz, said, “The late Arfa Syeda Zehra is the narrator of the film and she said it perfectly, ‘anyone who is trying to find meaning in life.’”
Documentary on legendary artist Zia Mohyeddin set to hit screens on 30th
The Colour of My Heart begins with, as Riaz said, Ms Zehra’s voice who talks about the importance of love and what love entails. Soon, shots of Zia sahib grace the screen, along with inter-cuts of his interviews and bits of his performances or a touch prior to them. At the heart of it all is a show that he used to do in Lahore on Dec 31 every year at which he read pieces of Urdu prose and nazms.
There are several scenes in the film that tug at the viewer’s heartstrings. The director thoughtfully captures the sociopolitical milieu of Pakistan in which Zia sahib is asked to set up an academy in Karachi. He also goes back and forth in time in the film when the late artist first went abroad (to Australia) in the early 1950s and then to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA). It was in England, and watching the likes of John Gielgud, that Zia sahib realised the importance of language, and this is where his love for Urdu blossomed.
There’s no dearth of poignant moments in the documentary which makes the film an essential watch. Zia sahib talks about being a loner. His wives are also interviewed to give their opinions on his idiosyncrasies. Then when Faiz Ahmed Faiz comes into the audio-visual equation, Mr Riaz shows his sensitive directorial side by letting the poet’s daughters speak about him like only daughters can — he keeps the camera close on their faces when they mention his death. It was a moving sequence.
The documentary will have its countrywide release on Jan 30.
Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2026
