Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor () is a Pakistani computer animated film 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. Set in the northern regions of Pakistan, the story follows Allahyar, a young and mischievous boy who ends up dealing with circumstances he never thought possible. The movie aims to shed light on the preservation and illegal hunting of wildlife, with main characters Mehru (a markhor), Hero (a Chukar partridge, known as chakor in Pakistan), and a snow leopard named Chak'ku being endangered species.
The film received a largely positive reaction by the general audience but received mixed to positive reviews by critics.
Cast
Anum Zaidi as Allahyar
Natasha Humera Ejaz as Mehru
Ali Noor as Mani
Azfar Jafri as Hero
Abdul Nabi Jamali as Chak'ku
Arieb Azhar as Bablu
Hareem Farooq
Ali Rehman Khan
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. It is the first movie produced entirely in Unreal Engine. The first song of the movie, a rendition of Zohaib Hassan'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, screenwriter, and computer graphics artist, who is also scheduled to direct the upcoming sequel Allahyar and the 100 Flowers of God.
The film was directed by Uzair Zaheer Khan, a Pakistani film director, screenwriter, and computer graphics artist. He was the director and writer of the 2018 film Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor, and its upcoming 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 as well as being a movie featuring a child protagonist which is not common in Pakistan.
Maleeha Mengal from Dunya News 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 on 28 June 2023.