''Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor'' () is a

Pakistani Pakistanis (, ) are the citizens and nationals of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. Pakistan is the fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the second-largest Muslim population as of 2023. As much as ...

animated

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction that involves supernatural or Magic (supernatural), magical elements, often including Fictional universe, imaginary places and Legendary creature, creatures. The genre's roots lie in oral traditions, ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by Uzair Zaheer Khan. It depicts the story of a young boy and his relationship with animals. The film is produced by 3rd World Studios and distributed by

ARY Films ARY Films () is a film distribution and production company in Pakistan, part of ARY Digital Network. 35 films including 11 Urdu, six Punjabi and 17 Pashto films have been released by ARY Films since 2013. Among them, '' Waar'', ''Jawani Phir ...

. The movie aims to shed light on the preservation and illegal hunting of wildlife, with main characters Mehru (a

markhor The markhor (''Capra falconeri'') is a large wild ''Capra'' (goat) species native to South Asia and Central Asia, mainly within Pakistan, the Karakoram range, parts of Afghanistan, and the Himalayas. It is listed on the IUCN Red List as Near ...

), Hero (a

Chukar partridge The chukar partridge (''Alectoris chukar''), or simply chukar, is a Palearctic upland Upland game, gamebird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It has been considered to form a superspecies complex along with the rock partridge, Philby's partrid ...

, known as chakor in Pakistan), and a

snow leopard The snow leopard (''Panthera uncia'') is a species of large cat in the genus ''Panthera'' of the family Felidae. The species is native to the mountain ranges of Central and South Asia. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List because ...

named Chak'ku being

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching, inv ...

. The film received a largely positive reaction by the general audience but received mixed to positive reviews by critics.

Premise

Set in the northern regions of

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

, the story follows Allahyar, a young and mischievous boy who ends up dealing with circumstances he never thought possible.

Cast

* Anum Zaidi as Allahyar * Natasha Humera Ejaz as Mehru *

Ali Noor N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

as Mani *

Azfar Jafri Azfar Jafri () is a Pakistani film director, screenwriter, actor, and VFX artist. He is best known for his Independent film An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is film producti ...

as Hero * Abdul Nabi Jamali as Chak'ku * Arieb Azhar as Bablu *

Hareem Farooq Hareem Farooq (; born 26 May 1989) is a Pakistani theatre, film, and television actress and film producer. She began her career with theater, playing the lead role of Fatima Jinnah in '' Pawnay 14 August'' and Kiran in '' Aangan Terha''. She ma ...

Ali Rehman Khan Ali Rehman Khan () is a Pakistani actor who appears in Urdu films, television series, and theater plays. Khan has won two Hum Awards and has been nominated twice at the Lux Style Awards for his acting prowess. Born and raised in Islamabad, Kha ...

* Nadia Jamil * Arshad Mehmood as Master Jee * Amjad Chaudary * Ahmed Ali

Production

The movie was produced by 3rd World Studios, for which the studio was awarded a dev grant by

Epic Games Epic Games, Inc. is an American Video game developer, video game and software development, software developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Cary, North Carolina. The company was founded by Tim Sweeney (game developer), Tim Sween ...

. It is the first movie produced entirely in

Unreal Engine Unreal Engine (UE) is a 3D computer graphics game engine developed by Epic Games, first showcased in the 1998 first-person shooter video game '' Unreal''. Initially developed for PC first-person shooters, it has since been used in a variety of ...

. The first song of the movie, a rendition of

Zohaib Hassan Zoheb Hassan (born November 18, 1966) is a Pakistani pop icon, singer, songwriter, producer, and was a part of the superduo Nazia and Zoheb, with his sister Nazia Hassan. Early career and breakthrough Zoheb and his sister Nazia spent their chi ...

's 1982 song "Muskuraye Ja", song by Natasha Humera Ejaz and produced by Ahmed Ali, was officially released on 13 January 2018. The film was directed by Uzair Zaheer Khan, a Pakistani

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, and computer graphics artist. He was the director and writer of the 2018 film ''Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor'', and its 2023 sequel '' Allahyar and the 100 Flowers of God''.

Reception

The film received attention by the media even soon after the initial teasers and trailers. It was admired for its theme on the awareness about

wildlife conservation Wildlife conservation refers to the practice of protecting wild species and their habitats in order to maintain healthy wildlife species or populations and to restore, protect or enhance natural ecosystems. Major threats to wildlife include habita ...

as well as being a movie featuring a child protagonist, which is not common in Pakistan. Maleeha Mengal from

Dunya News Dunya News () is a 24-hour Urdu language news and current affairs television channel from Pakistan. It is governed and operated by the National Communication Services (NCS). Its head office is situated at Lahore, Pakistan. Dunya News was found ...

noted that the movie would "remain one of the most memorable stories for children for many years". It was also well received because producing animated movies is harder and costly.

Accolades

The film won the prestigious Monolith Award for Content at the Infinity Film Festival at Hollywood. It was also screened at South Asian International Film Festival (SAIFF) at New York, where it received Best Feature Film in the Audience Choice category.

Sequel

A sequel titled, '' Allahyar and the 100 Flowers of God'' was released in 2023 with returning director, Uzair Zaheer Khan. 3rd Worlds Studios returned to produce and provide animation for the film. The film featured Anum Zaidi, and

reprising their roles from the previous film with

Ali Zafar Ali Zafar (; born 18 May 1980) is a Pakistani singer-songwriter, actor, model, producer, screenwriter and painter. He started out on Pakistani television before becoming a popular musician, later also established a career in Bollywood and h ...

Iqra Aziz Iqra Aziz Hussain ( Aziz; born November 24, 1997) is a Pakistani actress who works in Urdu television known for her portrayals in social to comic girl next door. She is the recipient of several accolades, including three Lux Style Awards and f ...

Humayun Saeed Humayun Saeed (born 27 July 1971) is a Pakistani actor and producer. Describing himself as a method actor, Saeed is primarily known for his work on Pakistani television and cinema and is the recipient of several accolades, including Lux Styl ...

Bushra Ansari Bushra Ansari () is a Pakistani actress, comedian, singer, and playwright in Punjabi and Urdu cinema, who started her career as a child performer in the 1960s. Ansari won numerous awards during her career, including the Presidential Pride of Per ...

, and Meera Ji joining the cast as new characters.

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, tt7955106
Movie Page at ARY Films

3rd World Studios

Official Trailor
2018 films 2018 computer-animated films Pakistani animated films Animated films about cats Animated films about goats Animated films about birds Animated films set in Asia 2010s Urdu-language films Urdu-language Pakistani films