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There was a lot of anticipation for the sequel of 3 Bahadur, and The Revenge of Baba Balaam made it worth the wait.

“I want audiences to laugh with our characters, grieve with them, root for them, and see themselves in our heroes. 3 Bahadur seeks to entertain you, everything else is secondary,” said director and co-producer Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy in conversation with Images.

And after watching the film, I can’t agree more. The 3 Bahadur franchise lives up to my expectations as it manages to not only pull many 6-year-olds into the cinemas, but keeps their parents and guardians hooked too!

Here’s how 3 Bahadur: The Revenge of Baba Balaam manages to do it:

1) It's a film about superheroes, but every kid will relate to it.

What I loved the most about 3 Bahadur and now its sequel is the fact that the film is a perfect blend of fantasy and reality.

3 Bahadur features three superheroes — Amna, Kamil and Saadi — who fight the forces of evil in their town of Roshan Basti. Despite their superpowered life, the trio finds itself in situations that children often encounter in real life. So, while 3 Bahadur’s young audience is comfortably seated in the cinema hall, enjoying their popcorn and movie, they can learn a thing or two from characters that have a lot in common with them.

Smart kids will relate to the intelligent Saadi, there's the strong-willed and savvy Amna as a role model for the girls and stubborn but talented Kamil for the kids who are a little too cool for school.

For instance, when Kamil embarrassingly loses in a quiz competition, lots of school-going kids will be able to relate to his difficulty in accepting defeat. Infuriated by his public failure, he blames his friends Saadi and Amna for his loss and severs ties with them. He later realises he's wrong to do so, and so we learn some valuable lessons about the importance of friendship.

A special shout-out for the character of Amna, who should serve as an inspiration to many young girls. Her independence and determination to defeat evil will make girls realise the importance of self-confidence. She is hard-working and a true believer of never giving up — in other words, the ideal role model for girls under the age of 10.

3 Bahadur 2 isn't all lesson learning, because the fantasy element makes the film a fun watch. Like Amna's gift of speed makes for a lot of thrilling sequences, Kamil also shows off his super hearing skills and saves the days in many unexpected ways.

Speaking of introducing characters that Pakistani children can easily connect with, Sharmeen says, “In a world of Doras, Ben 10s and Chota Bheems, the fact that we are giving our children local mentors and heroes with 3 Bahadur is one of my proudest accomplishments and one of the main reasons I formed Waadi Animations.”

2) The film may start slow, but picks up and rewards the viewer in the second half

3 Bahadur grabs the viewers’ attention within its first few scenes.

The opening sequence shows the Bahadur trio trouncing a gang of thieves. The film thus starts off from where its prequel ended, when the superheroes had established their superiority over the forces of evil in Roshan Basti.

Then, in the comparatively slow first half, we see the superheroes lose their edge over the bad guys because of a rift in the group. The evil Baba Balaam and his thugs take advantage of their split and rise again.

The film then picks up on the action and show us some pretty interesting battles between good and evil. The final battle with Baba Balaam was particularly memorable because viewers really didn't know how the 3 Bahadurs will win the fight. What's best is that the story is simple and understandable, making it easy for children to grasp the core message for the need for unity.

However, the product placement unnecessarily disrupts the film's storyline, which makes it extremely infuriating.

I understand that animation is costly, but trust me, no kid would like drinking Olpers while hanging out with his or her friends. No kid would brag about their new bank account in school, especially the fact that it only takes Rs.100 to open one. So please, figure out a way to spare us the horror next time.

3) The expressive voiceovers overpower the technical glitches

Like the first installment, 3 Bahadur: Revenge of Baba Balaam is far from being technically sound.

While a few scenes impressed (especially the opening sequence), a few were an absolute letdown. Only if the film had been given more time, a few scenes could have improved immensely.

Defending her case, Sharmeen says, “Animation is in its infancy in Pakistan, and I had assumed that finding the right people would be the most difficult part of the process. It became evident that the issue was not a lack of talent or skill, but the fact that this industry had never been given the resources that it required to live up to its full potential.”

However, what makes up for the technical aspects of the film are the voiceovers. The leads, Kamil voiced by Hanzala Shahid, Saadi voiced by Zuhab Khan and Amna voiced by Arisha Razi do justice to their roles, bringing their characters to life.

But it's Ahmed Ali Butt who steals the show as the hysterical S.H.O Sahab. His accent is different from what we have previously heard of him and it goes to show the versatility of the JPNA actor.

The film didn't offer much in the way of music and the only track I'd hum along to is 'Bhook Lagi Hai'.

4) It's a Pakistani story through and through

The jokes in the film are actually funny. Kamil’s shenanigans managed to bring a smile to my face every single time. However, the character that managed to tickle each and every person’s funny bones was the mischievous parrot voiced by Zeba Shehnaz.

“We have taken special care to ensure that the story of 3 Bahadur remains very local; from the way we have designed our characters, to our dialogues and our script. We want children to see characters that look like them and talk like them on the big screen for the first time,” said Sharmeen while also admitting that the parrot happens to be her favorite character too.

So, kudos to the filmmakers for promoting Pakistani culture – a refreshing change in our films indeed.

Verdict: If you are looking for a film to watch with your family and if you want to see your children entertained, then 3 Bahadur: Revenge of Baba Balaam is your film!

Rating: ##Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆