More girl power is offered by Waadi Animations’ concluding instalment of the 3 Bahadur animated trilogy, as Saadi (voiced by Zuhab Khan), Amna (Arisha Razi) and Kamil (Bashar Amir Shafi) team up with superheroes from a parallel world to save both their worlds from intergalactic forces of evil.

Directed by two-time Academy Award winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy and written by Kamran Khan, the story opens with Roshan Basti, a safe and peaceful town with all the villains put behind bars — thanks to our heroes. The kids are going about their lives like other children, at times finding it difficult to control their powers.

It is only during a school trip when they run into the mysterious circus performer, Erma (Mehwish Hayat), that things start to heat up. Erma is a superhero from a parallel world, running and hiding from Babushka (Nimra Bucha), who is searching for her to take away her superpowers. The three vow to protect Erma, even turning against Deenu Chacha (Behroze Sabzwari), their mentor who gave them their powers in the first place. More twists follow as the children work selflessly for the greater good.

Despite a predictable storyline, there are refreshingly no preachy monologues taking place to teach children the importance of being selfless and striving to make the bigger picture better for everyone around them. Rather the message is woven clearly and organically into the storyline. Also, the film’s very Pakistani feel is especially refreshing, such as Kamil’s father’s dhaba, the aunty who keeps asking for dahi, the market with the thelaywala etc. Besides these, the central characters, Erma and Babushka, stood out well with detailing done intricately to their form and outfits, which made them memorable. GFX-wise, the movie has clearly set new benchmarks.

However, the facial expressions of the characters still need a lot of work. Also, when Erma and Babushka are recounting their versions of why they have left their own world, I found it odd that the sketches resembled Japanese Manga character illustrations, which did not blend in with the feel of the 3 Bahadur franchise.

I also didn’t get why the monsters that the warriors teamed up to fight against, resembled germs as seen under a microscope. Was it one of the repercussions of having Dettol as the title sponsor?

There was even a sequence of Dettol Warriors cartoon mid-movie, which blatantly took up screen time without adding any value to the content.

While the end sequence was done in better taste, I expected the filmmakers to come up with more creative ways of placing the brand within the movie, as naturally as they instilled the spirit of selflessness through the actions of the three young bahadurs.

Published in Dawn, Young World, January 5th, 2019