Bollywood Bets on Zombies Now

After the blockbuster success of Dhurandhar, Ranveer Singh is set to headline Pralay, playing a crusader battling a zombie apocalypse. Adapted from Portuguese Nobel laureate José Saramago’s novel Blindness, the film also marks the directorial debut of Jai Mehta, son of filmmaker Hansal Mehta.

Ranveer isn’t the only star embracing the undead. Tiger Shroff will battle zombies in Ahmed Khan’s untitled zombie comedy, while the 2021 Telugu hit Zombie Reddy is getting a sequel starring Teja Sajja and Shanaya Kapoor.

While zombies have long dominated Korean cinema and Hollywood, Indian filmmakers are only now venturing into the genre in a serious way. Raj & DK were among the pioneers with Go Goa Gone (2013), the irreverent zombie comedy starring Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Kemmu and Vir Das. Though it received a modest response on release, the film has since earned cult status.

Looking back, Raj Nidimoru says the idea wasn’t simply to make a zombie film. “We wanted to do something that didn’t exist in India. We’d just finished Shor in the City and wanted to make something completely different. The idea was also to mirror the lives of slackers living a zombie-like existence in an exaggerated way. As the dialogue says, ‘India mein bhoot pishach hote hain, yeh zombie kahan se aaye?’ We wanted to make a zombie film for beginners. Today, people ask us about a sequel, but we’d rather let Go Goa Gone remain what it is.”

Zombies, new to Indian audeince

The genre returned in 2020 with Netflix’s Betaal, directed by Nikhil Mahajan and produced by Shah Rukh Khan’s Red Chillies Entertainment. The series, about an insurgency squad that inadvertently revives undead British soldiers, drew praise for its premise and production values, though critics felt it lacked genuine scares.

A lifelong fan of zombie horror, Mahajan says directing the series was an easy decision. “Patrick Graham’s vision and writing were so strong that saying yes was a no-brainer. The biggest challenge wasn’t making zombies — it was the audience’s unfamiliarity with the genre. Zombies have never been part of mainstream Indian pop culture. But younger viewers consume Korean and Western content regularly, so I’m optimistic the time is finally right.”

Must match global standards

South Korea has, meanwhile, perfected the zombie template with global hits such as Train to Busan, Peninsula, Kingdom and All of Us Are Dead, blending horror with social commentary and emotional storytelling. With Ranveer Singh leading a big-budget zombie film and several more projects in the pipeline, is India finally ready for the undead?

Raj Nidimoru believes audience acceptance will depend less on the genre itself than on execution. “Since Go Goa Gone, audiences have watched a lot of international content. If we’re making zombie films today, they have to match the production quality of Hollywood and South Korean cinema. That’s the real challenge.”

Mahajan agrees, adding that major stars could help the genre break into the mainstream. “The audience is gradually warming up to zombie stories. When top stars back these films, they naturally reach a much wider audience. That’s exactly the boost the genre needs.”