Combativo

Ahmad Ali is a highly trained ex commando of anti terrorist force working undercover on a daring mission to eliminate the 'Rustam Group' a deadly nexus of ruthless mercenaries, terrorists and criminal mafias in Pakistan. Ali's comrades had been mercilessly killed by the Rustam network. While working on his mission Romana a friend of Ali and a TV anchor who hosts a popular television show exposing political elements involved with the Rustam group, gets abducted by the network. Commando Ali has to speed up his mission now and prepare to make a daring final assault at the Rustam network’s main base in no man’s land to rescue Romana from being executed and take out Rustam and his main command before they dispatch a large consignment of weapons for spreading wide terror in the entire South Asian region.

  • Shahzel Syed
    Director
  • Shahzel Syed
    Writer
  • Shahzel Syed
    Producer
  • Shahzel Syed
    Key Cast
    "Commando Ahmad Ali"
  • Bushra Dost Baloch
    Key Cast
    "Romana"
  • Bashir Raja
    Key Cast
    "Rustam"
  • Shabbir Shah
    Key Cast
    "Razzi"
  • Saleem Shah
    Key Cast
    "Raja Akram"
  • Shoukat Shehzad
    Key Cast
    "Shameer"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Genres:
    Action, adventure, thriller, martial arts
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 30 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    February 10, 2021
  • Production Budget:
    4,300,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    Pakistan
  • Country of Filming:
    Pakistan
  • Language:
    Hindi, Urdu
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Shahzel Syed

Shahzel Syed was born on 21st August 1981 in Rawalpindi, Pakistan. After graduating in commerce from Punjab University in 2001. Shahzel Syed embarked on a journey to discover his multi-talented creative personality. As a teenage actor he has had appeared in main roles in prime time Dramas of Pakistan Television.

In 2009 he formed an independent productions company ‘Shah Productions’ whose banner under he directed and produced documentary films among which most notable being “The Lost Glory” (2009) and “The Rhythm Of Sufis” (2011) and he also directed TV commercials and promotional videos.

His biggest creative achievement as a filmmaker, screenwriter and Actor is the making of Action packed film ‘COMBATIVO’ that he wrote, directed, produced independently and starred in and the project took more than five years to get completed. Initial production begun as early in 2015 and the film got completed in late 2020 and is being released internationally in 2021.

COMBATIVO is the pinnacle of Action cinematography in Pakistan and is a significant milestone in Action cinema of region as it is the country’s first proper action film made with high standards in all departments of Action including martial arts, stunts, Gunfights and creation of high end VFX.
The film demonstrates Shahzel Syed’s multi-genius capability of directing and making challenging action movies and also his strong flair as an emerging action star from south Asia.

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Director Statement

Having a passionate vision since teen years to make, direct and star in an action film and that too in a country like Pakistan that has a very non-conducive and discouraging environment for creative people of any kind let alone a filmmaker with high ambitions. In such circumstances with no support around I had to take the challenge and embark on a long and painful journey to write, produce, direct, Star in and even edit ‘COMBATIVO’ independently taking more than five years to realize my creative ambition

The script was perfected after several drafts and the character of Commando Ahmad Ali was created along with the whole theme of Combativo that shows a backdrop of modern day South Asia in which Ali fights a war against a nexus of an updated crime-terror group. The story and theme in fact resembled my own life’s struggle story at many points.

The action filming and combat stunts had to be as realistic and entertaining as possible and reflect my own original approach towards realistic action story-telling thus viewers will notice the fight scenes and other action scenes showed with long shots defining the action moves clearly. Many challenging action scenes that at first seemed totally impossible due to lack of money and technical expertise were attempted after four years of the first phase of filming and were successfully done and added to the film. The Gunship attack scene, gunfights and the climactic hand to hand fight scene shot entirely on green screen remain the first timers in south Asia and are a feat in successfully making high end action VFX under extremely limited resources.

Lastly I hope that COMBATIVO gives movie viewers across the world a new style of action entertainment and takes them on a thrilling journey of a lone warrior.