From Night Of The Living Dead To Ranveer Singh's Pralay, How The Zombies Are Shifting From Hollywood To Bollywood On Halloween

Instead of focussing on the time tested chudails this Halloween, let’s turn our attention instead to a rising force of the underworld - zombies. Seen as a regular fixture in Hollywood, slowly and steadily, these undead creatures are making their way into India. After taking care of Pakistan, Ranveer Singh shall be taking on these creatures in the film Pralay, slated for a 2027 release. 

Directed by Jai Mehta, India’s most ambitious zombie film yet is set against the backdrop of Mumbai, as humanity races against extinction. With Kalyani Priyadarshan making her Bollywood debut, it is produced by Ananya Birla’s Birla Studios, Hansal Mehta and Sahil Saigal’s True Story Films, and Ranveer Singh’s Maa Kasam Films. 

Infesting Hollywood

Adopting the undead in India could have come due to its massive success overseas, as it seems like over the last decade there has been an infestation of zombie movies in Hollywood. Being an ardent horror fan, I’ve watched most of these, and have quite a few lined up in my watchlist. The latest one I saw (rewatched) was Dawn of the Dead (2004), directed by Zack Snyder. Yes, the same Snyder who has directed Justice League (2017), Man of Steel (2013) and 300 (2006). It’s an engrossing watch about a bunch of survivors who take refuge in a mall when the entire city has been overrun by zombies. 

Romero’s trilogy

One (almost) comprehensive list notes that at least 100 zombie movies were made in the last 13 years (horror’s favourite number). However, Hollywood's tryst with this undead entity began with films like White Zombie (1932) and I Walked With a Zombie (1943), where magic controlled zombie servants. But it was George A. Romero who created the modern subgenre, starting off with Night of the Living Dead (1968), followed by Dawn of the Dead (1978, Snyder’s was a remake), Day of the Dead (1985) and a few more. 

The return

The early 2000s saw a revival of sorts, with one of the most successful franchises being the Resident Evil series, inspired from the video game, starring Milla Jovovich as the lead in at least six movies. 28 Days Later (2002) also spawned a few sequels, while the long-running The Walking Dead (2010-2022) TV series hit the jackpot. The last one, however, I have refused to see till now because gore is something I detest. 

The Bollywood connection

Nevertheless, it seems that Bollywood too has adopted a few zombies, in bits and pieces though. Go Goa Gone (2013) was India’s first mainstream zombie comedy with Saif Ali Khan as the fake Russian, along with Kunal Kemmu and Vir Das. The same year saw the Kirti Kulhari, Luke Kenny starrer Rise of the Zombie, but that didn’t do well. Betaal (2020) (a Netflix series) got back undead soldiers of the British East India Company while the Marathi film Zombivli (2022) infested Dombivli in Mumbai with zombies. But with probably the most ambitious one, Pralay, in the works, looks like we’re sorted for next year’s Halloween.