KARACHI: Though the red carpet razzle-dazzle on Saturday for the press conference held at a multiplex to meet the people behind an upcoming animated film Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor did not last for as long as it usually does, the presser itself was a pretty elaborate one.

Musician Ali Noor (of pop band Noori), who has lent his voice to a character in the film, arrived early and immediately got the media’s and the public’s attention.

Singer Natasha Ejaz, who plays (read: does the voice-over for) a central character in the film said constant discussions with director Uzair Khan, helped her transition to the field of voice-overs. She’s also sung a song for the project.

Ali Noor said he had never done anything like that before and it was only because of Uzair that he did the project. He has also produced and sung a song in the animated movie for the sequence in which the character of Allahyar “takes the plunge”, adding that he wanted a rock ballad sound for the track.

Anum Zaidi said in the beginning she found it difficult to do the job but she was helped by the individuals involved in the film and was able to do the voice the way it was required.

Director of the film Uzair Khan responding to a question put to him by the host, Khalid Malik, said there were a lot of small factors that went into making the film, the first of which was that it was his field. Then he thought not many such projects were being made, despite the fact that we had great talent in Pakistan.

Giving away the story of the film the director said many people did not know that Markhor was our national animal, the Snow Leopard our national heritage animal and the Chakor our national bird. Since the film’s theme was wildlife conservation, he thought it was better to have such a combination [of animals]. It’s a patriotic film focused on Pakistan. “If children develop a relationship with these characters, when they grow up to become adults they will have a link with them.”

Replying to a question the director said that it took a year for the film to be made and more than that time for its pre-production stage.

Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor releases on Feb 2.

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2018