Riaz Shahid was born in 1927 in Quetta, British India. He comes from a Kashmiri family. He is the father of famous Pakistani film star Shahid Shahid. Shaan was just one year old when his father died. His real name is Sheikh Riaz, but his nickname is Shahid. He was educated at the Islamic College in Lahore, Pakistan. Riaz lives in Lahore where he started his career as a reporter for Chataan newspaper and later joined Faiz Ahmed Faiz's Lail-o-Nihar. He also wrote a novel titled Hazar Dastan.

Riaz Shahid was introduced to the Pakistani film industry by his friend actor Allauddin as a story and dialogue writer in the film Bharosa (1958). In 1962, Riaz began his film career by directing the film Susraal (1962 film). He collaborated with the famous progressive poet Habib Jalib to create or direct many films, such as "Zarqa" (1969), "Shahid" (1962), "Franji" (1964), "Kah" Moshe Laho" (1964) and "Ye Aman" (1971).

Sangeeta, a famous Pakistani film actor and director, said: "Riaz Shahid was a visionary. Whatever is happening in Kashmir today, he was doing very well in the 60s. He was the best director of his time and we should be proud of that. "People were once part of our industry. Another filmmaker, Choudhry Ejaz Kamran, was reported to have said: “Riaz Shahid’s excellence lies not only in his craft but also in his A contribution to meaningful cinema. A film that is as political as it is impressive. "The super hit films made by Shahid are now considered guides for aspiring filmmakers. "Although he dabbled in many genres, he always preferred to make films based on serious and revolutionary ideas."