Allahyar isn't just a film for children, says director Uzair Zaheer Khan
The film Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor boasts a star-studded cast. You won’t see them, but you can definitely hear them.
Singer Natasha Humaira Ejaz has lent her voice to the character of Mehru, the adorable little markhor who befriends Allahyar (voiced by Anum Zaidi). Noori’s Ali Noor plays Mani, the evil hunter out to get Mehru and Chakku, the snow leopard (voiced by Abdul Nabi Jamali). Azfar Jafri is Hero, a loveable but totally tharki chakor.
Made in collaboration with WWF Pakistan, the animated movie aims to shed light on issues such as illegal poaching of wildlife, endangered species and conservation. And it does all of that in the most adorable way — through the story of a boy and his tiny animal friends. The visuals are quite slick, the animation is better than what we’ve seen before in Pakistan and, Icon has learnt, this is a 100 percent made-in-Pakistan production.
Shortly before the film’s release, the writer, director and producer of Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor, Uzair Zaheer Khan, who has previously worked on the animated TV series Burka Avenger, came out of the shadows (he refers to himself as an introvert) to speak about this project on which he spent a little over a year. The following are excerpts from his interview: