I will be honest I did not expect to walk out of the cinema feeling this way. But after watching Nabeel Qureshi’s Zombeid, I genuinely felt proud of where Pakistani cinema is heading.
This film was not just a movie. It was a statement.
Pointing the obvious: nobody in Pakistan has done this before. A full-blown zombie thriller, shot with conviction, packed with energy, and actually delivered well is something worth talking about.
Nabeel Qureshi has always been the kind of filmmaker who refuses to play it safe, and with Zombeid, he has pushed that boundary further than anyone expected. Fizza Ali Mirza co-wrote the script, and together they have crafted something that feels fresh, local, and genuinely exciting.
The story follows Wali, a natural bodybuilder competing at the Mr Pakistan level. His world gets complicated when a rivalry rooted in jealousy and drug use leads to a tragic accident, costing his coach’s life and leaving Wali injured. Fast forward, and Wali is back in the gym Muscle Factory, to be exact training, grinding, and quietly watching tensions simmer with old rivals.
Then one night, an illegal steroid injection turns one gym member into a zombie. And if you know how Zombie films work, you already know one bite is all it takes. From that moment, the film does not let go.
Fahad Mustafa brings real physicality and screen presence to Wali. He owns every scene, and his final jump sequence had the entire audience gasping honestly, it had a strong Main Hoon Na energy, and I mean that as a compliment. Mehwish Hayat plays Zara with confidence and charisma.
Their chemistry is easy and watchable, though I will admit the romance moved a little quickly –falling deeply in love within ten days and one song felt slightly rushed. Had their relationship built more slowly across the chaos of that Zombeid-filled night, it might have landed even harder emotionally. Still, both performers gave everything they had, and it showed.
Now, the performance that genuinely surprised me was Dodi Khan as Marwan. I have watched him in dramas before, but this was something entirely different.
His expressions, dialogue delivery, and the quiet menace he brought to the role made Marwan a memorable villain. He captured exactly what a well-written antagonist should feel like on screen. Nabeel Qureshi deserves credit for casting him, and Dodi Khan deserves every bit of praise coming his way.
Babar Ali’s appearance was a treat. The man has an aura that very few Pakistani actors carry, and every moment he was on screen felt significant. His subtle expressions a single eyebrow raise, a quiet frustration about being in a “thankless job” while Wali got all the glory were perfectly understated and brilliantly funny.
Mohsin Abbas Haider also deserves a mention. His role about a man so anxious about his body image before a film shoot that he accepts an illegal injection felt grounded and human, which made his transformation all the more unsettling.
What truly elevated Zombeid beyond expectations was the technical execution. The VFX, the practical makeup, the blood effects all of it was handled with real care.
Shooting a Zombeid film requires a committed post-production team, and it is clear everyone involved understood what the genre demanded. The makeup artists especially deserve recognition because Zombeid horror lives or dies on how convincing the transformations look, and here they delivered.
Almost the entire film takes place within Muscle Factory gym, and yet it never feels claustrophobic or boring. The confined setting actually adds tension, forcing characters to think, fight, and survive in tight spaces. The action sequences are well-choreographed, the pacing is sharp, and the film moves with confidence from start to finish.
The songs were well-placed and did not interrupt the film’s momentum, which is something Pakistani cinema has not always managed well. Here, the music served the story rather than stopping it.
Zombeid is the kind of film that reminds you why cinema matters. It is entertaining, it is bold, and it proves that Pakistani filmmakers can compete in genres that have previously been the exclusive territory of Hollywood and Korean cinema. Nabeel Qureshi, Fizza Ali Meera, and their entire team cast, crew, Geo Films have done something worth celebrating.
Go watch it. Take your friends. Take your family. Support it at the box office, because films like this need to succeed so that more films like this get made. Pakistani cinema has always had talent. What it needs is proof that audiences will show up for something different and Zombeid is absolutely worth showing up for.
