If you’re looking for a scary flick to watch this Halloween season, look no further than Zinda Laash (thanks to Nilanjana and her brother Durjoy for the tip). Growing up, my siblings and I always complained because our parents didn’t let us celebrate Halloween. “It’s not a part of our tradition,” they would say. Boy, oh boy were they wrong. Halloween may not be, but vampire movies certainly are. Zinda Laash, which literally means “alive corpse” is the Pakistani version of Dracula. What, you didn’t know there were Pakistani vampires? Anything is possible in Lollywood, okay. Especially 1960’s Lollywood. (Although when I asked my parents about the movie, which would have come out when they were in high school, they had no recollection of it. Good two-shoes.)
According to Wikipedia, Zinda Lash was one of the most controversial Lollywood movies of its time. The movie barely made it past the censor board and even then sans its songs, which were considered too provocative in its time. (See this song for yourself and tell me if you think Bipasha and Mallika should give up their day jobs…)
Zinda Laash, which follows the basic plot of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, also has the distinction of being the first movie in Pakistan to be rated X. When the film opened July 7, 1967, it was designated “For Adults Only.” And with scenes like this, you can see why it was reported that a woman died of a heart attack upon watching Zinda Laash. Here, Dr. Bukari comes upon the house of Dr. Tabani, i.e. Dracula. There, he is entranced by the song and dance of Dr. Tabani’s assistant, played by the lovely Nasreen. But wait, was that fangs he just saw? (Hint: Skip the song by going straight ahead to 3:42.)
Sweet dreams, mutineers. *Cue scary music.
Related Posts: Ladies and Gentleman. I give you Kong.
i love desi horror movies! i’m still dying to see purana mandir after two of my closest friends said it formed a critical part of their childhood (for me, that would be pillai nila (because who doesn’t love a tamil film about a scorned woman killing herself and reincarnating as her ex-lover’s child?)). also, on a more sophisticated note, i still can’t get enough of manichitrathazhu – remade umpteen times, but still the best of the bunch.
phillygrrl – thanks for the clips. also, did your parents object on a religious level, or more so because of cultural differences?
This is SO perfect! For Goths like me, it’s so cool to find a desi horror flick, especially one involving vampires. How cool is that?
kenny, goths are not vampires.
There have hazaar horror movies in Indian film industry.
Some infact are quite good and original, most are remakes from Hollywood, but one cannot fail to mention Ramsay Brothers.
They made horror movies like morning bakery.
Ak, Halloween=The devil=Un-Christian.
Demondoll, I wore way too much black nailpolish in high school…
What a great find. I remember having seen some hindi horror movies from the 80s – monsters with long nails and fangs – freaky stuff.
I wonder if all the goth kids who’ve been doing the brooding thing for the last 10-15 years are all pissed now that all these emo-vampires are all the rage.
made this comment on the desi hippie post, but don’t know if the admins noticed it.
seem to get http 500 errors consistently when i click on the “discuss” button or try to look at the full page version of the genetics post.
killer apples
Phillygrrl,
Nothing wrong with black nailpolish! It’s cool to get the opportunity to be “unconventional” when we’re young. It helped me to develop my personality. 🙂
And about the film…creepy music indeed! The woman’s dance is erotic and scary at the same time. Bollywood-ish, yet also strangely western. I need to go watch the film now.
http error,
You might want to post comments to the Site Maintenance thread.
Nice Lollywood plug there PhillyGrrl.
That was fun – I need to check out the movie. I am reminded of so many ‘cheesy but fun ‘ Bollywood flicks. Phillygrrl, so I get a better context of this post (and others) of yours, you are a Christian of Pakistani origin? Hope that’s not a rude question.
This looks like multiple kinds of awesome. Only a Pakistani version of Bram Stoker would have an awesome big band sax number in a cantina. I actually thought that dance was pretty smokin’ in a sort of sweet way. There was something about the minimalist costume, the clarity of choreography, the gleeful abandon in a social context, that made it feel real and warm and thrilled—in some ways much hotter than surly undressed gyrations.
All You Need Is Love, that’s correct. No offense taken 🙂
“Nice Lollywood plug there PhillyGrrl.” I actually know nothing about Lollywood, JustSayin. So far the only Pakistani movie I’ve seen is Khuda Ke Liye. Does that kinda count as Lollywood?
I agree manichithrathazhu has been a respectable desi scary movie
Either this site is having technical problems or has jumped the shark.
Couldn’t find India’s moon discovery! Have you blogged about it yet? I would love to hear new insight/interview/info!
Thanks to youtube I am discovering the lost years of Pakistan cinema. This one is a classic.
Check out Manichitrathazhu, which was remade (badly) in Tamil as Chandramukhi and Hindi as Bhool Bhulaiyya.
Watch this and you’ll find ‘Zinda Lash’ to be all the more ‘Zinda’er!!!
Dracula Cha Cha anyone?
DO you know the name of the dance track that Nasreen is dancing with aalllll her sensuality? My email rapadoeste@gmail.com I will be pleased and gratefully happy to receive your answers. Best!