An animator’s work is never done. At two in the morning, one can attest to the legitimacy of this statement with Uzair Zaheer Khan — a man on a mission, who is ironing out minor wrinkles in his upcoming animated feature film Allahyar and the 100 Flowers of God.

Time is of the essence though: the sequel to the hit Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor is set to release on Eid-ul-Azha — which is now a mere 10 days away.

The film, to be released by Nadeem Mandviwalla (the distributor of The Legend of Maula Jatt), is also Pakistan’s first stereoscopic production — ie. you’ll have to shell out bucks to buy a pair of glasses to see it properly… if, that is, you want to see it in 3D (the option to see it in 2D also exists).

Uzair’s film is quite ambitious and star-studded, Icon learns. It stars the voices of Iqra Aziz, Ali Zafar, Humayun Saeed, Bushra Ansari, Meera, Azfar Jaffri (the director of Siyaah, Janaan, Parchi, Sherdil, Heer Maan Jaa) and Anum Zaidi, who reprises her voice of the kid-hero Allahyar.

Allahyar and The 100 Flowers of God is a trailblazing endeavour, and a through-and-through kids’ entertainer that will release this Eid-ul-Azha

Apart from the 3D, it is produced entirely on the groundbreaking Unreal Engine, the game-engine-turned-production software that has been used in big shows and movies such as Ford vs Ferrari, The Mandalorian and Love Death and Robots. The Legend of Markhor, as a matter of fact, holds the title of being the first film in the world that was made exclusively in a game engine, let alone unreal.

Since Uzair had technology to tinker with, the trailer launch of the film in Lahore dabbled in augmented reality; the poster, I learned, would come alive when viewed via an app on one’s cell phone (this writer, unfortunately, had missed the event).

The 100 Flowers of God is a trailblazing endeavour, I learn from Uzair in one of our many long, mostly idealistic, tech-driven conversations.

What I learned is this: while the 100 Flowers of God may be an internationally recognised production, and used technology that’s used by high-end international visual effect companies (it was awarded the much-coveted Epic Mega Grant from the makers of Unreal Engine, and utilised motion capture technology — the same kind that is used in bringing characters such as Gollum from The Lord of the Rings to life), the idea behind the film and its themes comes from a proud Pakistani, who is also a bit of a romantic.

An alum of Vancouver Film School, one of the most prestigious schools for animation in the world, Uzair established 3rd World Studios with a clear foresight: to make original movies, while addressing issues that irked him to the core.

While Pakistani audiences do get to see a lot of animated content, the values they represent aren’t really close to home, he explains.

“I believed that I could make a difference. Through animation, one could impart valuable lessons, raise awareness and preserve culture and values.”

Wildlife conservation, for example, was a key aspect of the story in The Legend of Markhor.

“[The story was made] to instil a soft spot in children’s hearts so that, when they grow up, they would continue to think differently when it comes to animals,” he says.

In The 100 Flowers of God, the message is of saving the environment. Allahyar, who had been bestowed with the power to speak to animals in the last film, becoming their muhafiz (guardian) and hero (the voice of Azfar), the snappy, smart alec chakor (partridge), would travel to a strange new world and discover why saving the environment is a big deal.

This new realm is a quasi-mix of fantasy and science fiction. One sees hover bikes and futuristic, superhero-esque body armour, tree creatures and, surprisingly, a strong whiff of culture and heritage. Looking at the designs of some of the characters, one notices braids, jewellery, cuffs and collars.

The idea was to deliver a uniquely Pakistani product, with as much technical finesse as possible, Uzair affirms.

“Pakistani artists have tremendous potential, but they don’t have the infrastructure or the opportunity to shine internationally. I wanted to prove that Pakistanis are awesome and, at the same time, give Pakistani audiences a product they can be proud of,” Uzair says.

“Not everyone can leave the country, so the idea was that if I do a film like this, and if it’s a success, then others [interested in producing animation] will follow suit, and that would create more jobs and bring khushali [prosperity] to CG artists in Pakistan.”

Although he didn’t expect it (and he keeps thanking God Almighty for it), Uzair found out that the stalwarts of the industry were willing to go out of their way to support the film.

The first was Nadeem Mandviwalla, who has been telling this writer that the sequel would be quite something to behold. Nadeem, I learn, was also instrumental in introducing Ali Zafar to the project, the actor tells me on the phone.

Ali, who didn’t charge a single cent to voice a character and recorded and produced a song, plays the ‘Minister’ — the film’s antagonist.

On the phone from Turkey, travelling between locations for a shoot, Ali tells Icon that his experience was “pretty short and sweet.” Ali had dubbed his character in two days.

Ali confesses that he did ham it up a little, and did a bit of an improv, since he was playing a baddie. “It’s an animated film, and it’s for kids, so you can be a little animated with your voice,” he laughs.

To push himself into the role, Ali says that he had taken on a tone that would completely change his voice. “I would hardly be recognisable,” he says. “It was fun.”

Being an artist and a producer himself, Ali knew the pains a Pakistani filmmaker goes through, he exclaims. “I wanted to encourage new, innovative and experimental filmmakers in my own small little way,” Ali says, amidst the sound of traffic in the background.

Humayun Saeed, who cameos in a role as a ‘Sage’ (a tree-like creature) also did the part free of charge. The rest, Uzair says in awe and admiration, charged little to nothing for their roles.

Anum Zaidi, the voice of Allahyar, says that voice acting is fun because there is less pressure. “You can be calmer and more focused on understanding the character, when you’re in a studio,” she says.

Working as the country manager for a UK-based company in Islamabad, Anum is a NUST graduate with a Bachelors’ degree in computer sciences. However, when she auditioned for the role in the first film, she was just a 17, and doing her O-levels — by the time she did the sequel, she had turned 19, and was in her first year of university.

Anum, who has been acting since the age of seven (she did Kidz Kourt and Granny, Sunny and Science for PTV) had voiced characters Immo and Muli in Burqa Avenger. Since Anum had done voice acting for young boys, she felt she would be able to pull off Allahyar’s character.

She got the part a week after she auditioned, she says.

The character has matured, Anum explains. “In the first movie, he was young, innocent and scared, and he was put in a place where he had to be brave. In The 100 Flowers of God, Allahyar has grown up. He is still very young, but he has a hero’s heart.”

Being the ‘muhafiz’, with the confidence and belief in one’s self, and the willingness to take initiatives, the character, Anum says, has rubbed off on her.

“It’s like flicking a button and I step into the character [and, in doing so], I’ve learned so much from him as well, even though he’s just a 10-year-old!”

Like Anum, the character had transitioned into children’s lives when the first film came, Uzair says. Children learned something; they saw the world in a different way. Now all he has to do is to pull off that magic once again.

Published in Dawn, ICON, June 18th, 2023