Oscar-winner Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's latest venture is "3 Bahadur", Pakistan's first full-length ani mated film about three kids who defy the odds and fight evil with the help of their superpowers. The film has revived audio-visual entertainment for children that PTV once promoted with its most popular series "Uncle Sargam". It has given back to Pakistanis of all ages a sense of "Us". We are there in the characters, the brave kids as well as the baddies. We had that sense of oneness when "Uncle Sargam" was telecast in the eponymous character as well as the likes of "Masi Musabatey".
The film is a box-office success. I watched it last Sunday along with a hall full of children and adults. At the end of the show kids were posing in front of the posters and cut-out stand-up figures of the Bahadur. Their body language, their expression showed they were already identifying with Sadi, Kamil and Amna. A family with three kids waited for the elevator with me. I smiled at the younger son and, pointing to him, said "You must be Sadi." The Mother promptly corrected me "No, this one is Sadi, he is Kamil and she is, of course, Amna." I love animated films. If one is showing in Karachi cinemas I go to see it, always on a Sunday morning because the children will be there and I love to see their reaction during and after the show. The children of course are always happy but never before did I see them identifying with the characters in the movie with the intensity evident in the reaction of every child who watched "3-Bahadur".
Our identity as Pakistanis, that is what "Uncle Sargam" gave us and now "3-Bahadur" has revived. Actually, I should say "Uncle Sargam" and other PTV programmes for children such as "Akkar-Bakkar" and even adult humour shows like Moin Akhter's and dramas such as "Unkahi' were creating our Pakistani identity, reducing the provincial differences, but it all ended the moment the private channels appeared to siphon off PTV's revenue from commercials. The national television did not have the resources to do more than survive. Now there are more than one PTV channels but, strangely, the producers do not seem interested in promoting children's entertainment. As for the local channels, their forte is tear-jerking soaps in imitation of Indian TV dramas and mindless talk shows. Foreign franchise show Hollywood animated films and cartoons. Of course a lot of these are entertaining. Who does not love "Madagascar", who is disinterested in Superman, Spiderman and Batman? Love is one thing, identity is another. Children act-out these characters but do not have that sense of "Us" that the characters in "3-Bahadur" give them.
Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy said in an interview, "3-Bahadur is not a film, it's a movement." She seem to be pointing to the interest the project generated among those who worked on the film as well as others. Especially the marketing, which she rightly describes as one-of-its kind in Pakistan. "Besides being the first animated feature film that has gone through 90 schools within the country with a special message for kids when the first three minutes were released; a smartphone game (both Apple and GooglePlay) has been introduced featuring the central characters, a comic strip has been regularly printed for kids in kids section of a local newspaper, all this prior to the release of the film. It generated interest of an international fast food chain which launched a "Bahadur meal" and a popular biscuit brand which repackaged their product in anticipation of the film's release. And, of course, there is potential for "3-Bahadur" merchandise featuring T-shirts and activity books. I hope they will produce those T-shirts in XL-size for adults because I would like to present one to my friend. Perhaps I will get one for myself too.
You see what I mean? When people identify with something it removes many prejudices, and social barriers and introduces a positive outlook since we all want to be part of such a movement. The film is a tribute to the spirit which moves Pakistanis. We are up against odds like the kind the three brave children face in the film. But give us a handle on how to overcome those odds and we go for it. This spirit was evident not only in Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy's, venture into uncharted world of animation film, it was there in all those who made it possible. With just a team of twelve the impossible was achieved, a Pakistani animated film produced. Famous actor Behroze Sabzwari who does the voice over for the chowkider Deenu chacha, and Kamran Khan who did the script and animation simply fell for the idea and signed on. There was no hesitation - would it succeed, would it fail - they simply wanted to make it happen. As a film it is very modern with mind-blowing action scenes.
Animated cartoons have a commercial potential because they attract the viewer in a way live humour shows cannot. This was first revealed to me by my colleague cartoonist I.H. Zaidi who produced Pakistan's first animated cartoon strip for a private television channel, two characters who make humourous quips about civic and political problems. By the time the third strip was shown it attracted a sponsor, a toothpaste brand. So, people, smile and join the bandwagon of animated cartooning and films.