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Zinda Laash

1967 Pakistani Urdu feature film directed by Khwaja Sarfraz

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJun 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ3038555 ↗
Source-derived summary

Zinda Laash (Urdu: زندہ لاش, lit. 'Living Corpse') is a 1967 Pakistani Urdu-language horror film directed by Khwaja Sarfraz, and starring Asad Bukhari, Habib, Deeba, Rehan, Zareen Panna and Nasreen. The film's plot borrows heavily from the 1958 British Hammer Horror film Dracula, as well as from Bram Stoker's 1897 novel of the same name. It is the first horror film produced in Pakistan, and also the first to be X-rated.

Zinda Laash was released internationally under the title The Living Corpse, and was released in the United States as Dracula in Pakistan.

Plot synopsis

Professor Tabini is experimenting on an elixir that he believes will conquer death. When he tries it on himself, however, he dies. His assistant finds his body, and carries it downstairs and into a crypt in the basement. He rises from the grave as a vampire and chomps down on her neck.

Cast

Asad Bukhari as Dr. Aqil Harker

Habib as Aqil's brother

Deeba as Shabnam

Rehan as Professor Tabbani / The Vampire

Yasmin as Shirin

Talish as Doctor

Cham Cham as the Dancer

Zareen Panna as Dancer

Nasreen as the Vampire bride

Rangeela as Guy at Nightclub

Munawar Zareef as Guy at Nightclub

Release

Theatrical release

Zinda Laash was released theatrically on 7 July 1967, and was a box office disappointment.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Zinda Laash” as 1967 Pakistani Urdu feature film directed by Khwaja Sarfraz. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Zinda, Laash and Pakistani.

Editorial reviewBest approached as a cultural-object dossier: authorship and date matter, but circulation and reception often explain the wider significance. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1967, 1958, 1897—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1967-01-01. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Zinda, Laash and Pakistani providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Zinda Laash”, the useful work is to connect “1967 Pakistani Urdu feature film directed by Khwaja Sarfraz” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q3038555. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967, 1958 and 1897.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

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  • Tracing reception history
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Zinda Laash”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Zinda Laash primary sources, Zinda Laash archive and Zinda research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

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  2. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Zinda Laash” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.