Many of his films were written by screenwriter Wahid Hamed and had a strong political message that exposed governmental and police corruption.
He also starred in the famous 1985 television comedy musical series Howa wa Heya with actress Soad Hosny.
Zaki was seen as an icon and spokesperson for the average Egyptian youth; he was also considered the heir to Farid Shawki, the two starred together in two movies several years earlier.
Zaki had been in intensive care at Dar Al Fouad Hospital in Sixth of October City, just outside Cairo, and died of lung cancer complications, after president Hosni Mubarak offered to send him to France for medical treatment at the government's expense and granted him the Order of Merit for his work in over 50 movies.
On November 18, 2020, Google celebrated his 71st birthday with a Google Doodle, which included boxing gloves to refer to Al Nimr Al Aswad (The Black Tiger), a crab for Kaboria (The Crab), a camera for Edhak El-Sora Tetlaa’ Helwa (Smile, the Picture Will Come Out Fine), and the animals from Arba’a Fi Muhimma Rasmiya (Four on an Official Mission).