HAPPENINGS
At what place are kids likely to learn about climate change, environmental protection, use of clean energy, laws of motion, etc.? The obvious answer would be in their classrooms, from their textbooks. If one tries to be creative, one might say YouTube videos. A cinema is a place hardly anyone would think of as an answer. Unless they have watched ‘Allahyar and the 100 Flowers of God’, the latest edition in the Allahyar series of animated movies to have come out of Pakistan.
This one is only better than its predecessor because it’s not just an animated film; it’s a 3D movie with an interesting story arc, impressive visuals and funny one-liners that elicited quite a few laughs from the young audience present at a special screening of the movie held by StarLinks at a Karachi cinema recently.
The screening was special because you could see members of the cast and crew along with celebrities and entertainment journalists, many of whom came with their kids. And it was the kids who answered with a resounding yes when, at the end of the show, Iqra Aziz – who has lent her voice to one of the main characters in the film — asked the audience if they liked the movie.
There are many reasons to like it, after all. One being, it’s very relevant in the current times. With climate disasters such as flash floods, heatwaves, hurricanes and blizzards affecting all regions of the world, especially Pakistan, there couldn’t have been a better time to discuss themes such as the importance of saving and planting trees, and using alternative energy sources like windmills. The movie also tries to educate people on the difference between cutting trees for daily use by those who live in areas where man-made energy sources aren’t available and industrial-level deforestation due to corporate greed. The movie has a multi-layered story (something, which, in my opinion, should be avoided in any media content meant for a younger audience). The main theme is the importance of environmental protection and conservation of energy and energy sources if there is to be a future for our planet.
The other dominant theme is the value relationships hold in our lives; and the relationships shown in the film are not one-dimensional. The story revolves around an adventure Allahyar embarks on when his father – the only living parent he has – goes missing (which is yet another relevant theme, by the way, given the times we are living in). It’s but natural to love one’s parent; what is endearing is the sense of responsibility Allahyar feels towards his father’s safety despite being a very young kid. And, it is this sense of responsibility which prompts him to go to an unknown place, nay planet, to look for him. Accompanying Allahyar in his travels is his old friend, Hero, a bird who is a combination of goofy and sensible. Judging by the kids’ reactions, Hero has the funniest lines in the film. Although he’s a coward through and through, Hero sticks with Allahyar, no matter how dangerous a path the latter chooses to tread. Allahyar also befriends a she-alien who helps him find his father while fighting for a noble cause for her alien homeland at the same time. The time he spends with her teaches Allahyar an important lesson: it’s good to speak the truth but not at the cost of hurting the feelings of the people you love and care for; it’s better to be diplomatic sometimes.
Another kind of relationship shown in the movie is Allahyar’s treatment of the various kinds of living organisms (insects and reptiles, actually) that are usually found everywhere. For instance, anyone’s first instinct on seeing a lizard would be to scream and throw something at it. Not the case with Allahyar, in whose home a lizard and her baby co-exist peacefully along with human beings. In fact, one of the emotional moments of the movie captures Allahyar’s longing for his deceased mother as Aunty Liz soothes her baby lizard to sleep while singing a melancholic, melodious lullaby.
The movie has a lot going for it: amazing animation, some of the biggest names of the Pakistani entertainment industry – Humayun Saeed, Bushra Ansari, Ali Zafar, Iqra Aziz, Azfar Jafri, Anum Zaidi — rendering their voices to the characters, pertinent themes, etc. But there are some weak points too, and the major one is a complicated storyline. Too much seems to be going on too many times, the net result being the story is all over the place. A story is the backbone of a movie. If it’s weak, the movie won’t stand, no matter how strong the animation and visual effects are. Similarly, the dialogues sound trite and phony at times. The only place I’ve heard a person addressing someone as ‘young man’ is the Pakistani and Indian movies of the 1970s and ’80s. About time we left this hackneyed method in the distant past where it belongs (or not?). With a cleaner, faster story and real-sounding dialogues, the movie could have been far more interesting and better.
Still, the team behind Allahyar and the 100 Flowers of God deserves a pat on the back for doing something very few in Pakistan think of doing: creating content for kids. I took it as a good sign when Uzair Zaheer Khan, the director, said at the end of the show that he’d seen the movie so many times that all he could spot whenever he saw it again was mistakes. It is hoped that he’d learn from them to give us yet another Allahyar adventure, better than the last two.