A review on Pakistani Animated feature length film, ‘Allahyar & the Legend of Markhor’ (2018). The Production House is 3rd World Studios while its Distributor is ARY Films.
+ Crew
- Written & Directed by Uzair Zaheer Khan
- Cinematography by Arooj Azam
- Edited by Muhammad Azeem
- Music by Ahmed Ali
- Produced by Usman Iqbal
+Note
Allahyar & the Legend of Markhor aims to shed light on the preservation and illegal hunting of wildlife, with main characters Mehru, a Markhor and Chakku, a snow leopard being endangered species.
Natasha Humera Ejaz is also a singer and a very good theatre artist where she plays a famous role of Jill in ‘Equus’ (2017) directed by Sunil Shankar. The first song released for the movie was a rendition of Zohaib Hassan’s 1982 song “Muskuraye Ja”, was sung by her.
+ Main Cast
- Anum Zaidi as Allahyar
- Natasha Humera Ejaz as Mehru
- Ali Noor as Mani
- Azfar Jafri as Hero
- Abdul Nabi Jamali as Chak’ku
- Arieb Azhar as Bablu
- N/A as Wolf Leader
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+ Supporting Cast
- N/A as Wolf #1
- N/A as Wolf #2
- N/A as Ranger
- N/A as Old Monkey
- N/A as Tourist Hunter
- N/A as Master Ji
- Ali Rehman Khan as Mr. Rabbit (Cameo)
- Hareem Farooqui as Mrs. Rabbit (Cameo)
+ Plot
A young boy, Allahyar who one day finds himself is able to communicate with the animals and needs to take Mehru to her home for safety from the hunting poachers.
+ High Points
i – Good voice performances by almost entire cast.
Ii – An enjoyable comic relief character, Hero voiced by Azfar Jafri is written well for its role and hilarious in most cases.
Iii – The punch lines were often pleasant, amusing.
Iv – Good animation of the characters and the surroundings.
v – A warm welcome to the cameo voices by Ali Rehman Khan and Hareem Farooqui.
+ Low Points
i – Unnecessary lengthy third act of the film.
ii – This film assures us that ‘Death’ has no meaning.
iii – Even if the target audience is children, still there is no excuse to include toilet humor.
Iv – Predictable twists and turns, including its end.
v – I don’t remember listening to more than a couple of songs. Although only one I can recall properly is of ‘Muskuraye Ja’ by Natasha Humera Ejaz. But even that one was too short.
vi – Other animals are not shocked to find themselves able to communicate with Allahyar.
+ Overall
Allahyar & the Legend of Markhor is a good effort, to come up with a light entertaining animated film for families and kids alike.
Rate: 3.0 out of 5 stars
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