New Hindi Film IIZ Indian Institute of Zombies Debuts to Low 1.5 Star Review

The Hindi horror-comedy film "IIZ: Indian Institute of Zombies" officially released in Mumbai on May 15, 2026, debuting to a low critical rating of 1.5 stars. Directed by the duo Gaganjeet Singh and Alok Dwivedi, the 2-hour-and-17-minute campus satire was widely criticized for its weak narrative, inconsistent makeup, and poor computer graphics.

The movie's plot is set at the Indian Institute of Innovation during its Tekfest 2026 event. The story follows an evil scientist, Dr. Darwendra, played by Mohan Kapur, who tricks attendees into drinking a potion that promises superhuman abilities and immortality. Unbeknownst to the students, the potion actually transforms them into flesh-eating zombies. The scientist plans to have the infected students contaminate the campus lake, threatening to spread the outbreak across the city and the nation.

To stop the catastrophe, a group of backbenchers teams up under the leadership of Professor Breganza, played by Anupriya Goenka. The group includes Rambo (Sachin Kavetham), Haggu (Tanishq Chaudhary), Virat Sharma (Shiva Brijrani), and Bhim Bhayankar (Jesse Lever), alongside Kiran (Rose Sardana) and a nerd named Kitaab Shivdasani, played by Ranjan Raj.

The film attempts to satirize the academic rat race by showing the backbenchers using college staples, such as attendance sheets, vivas, and surprise quizzes, to distract the zombie toppers. In one sequence, the zombie toppers are shown agonizing over a surprise quiz that holds a 2.5 percent weightage.

However, the writing team—consisting of Kunj Sanghvi, Hussain Dalal, Abbas Dalal, Siddharth Kumar, and Husain Hardawala—delivered a narrative that critics described as lacking the necessary "bite" to make its comedy infectious. The screenplay was noted for being stuffed with forced humor, such as random pop-culture references, while the computer graphics and zombie makeup remained shoddy and inconsistent throughout the film.