KARACHI: There was great hype about the content of the animated film The Donkey King whose premiere was held at a local multiplex on Friday night. The hype was largely to do with the project’s interestingly edited teasers released on TV a couple of weeks back –– politically charged dialogue, ostensibly, in an animated movie. No wonder the red carpet area was abuzz with activity from the time scheduled for the start of the event.

Well, the director of the film, Aziz Jindani, whose lanky presence could be felt all over the red carpet area, did not agree to the notion. He’s right, but not entirely. More of it later.

Talking to Dawn, Jindani reasoned: “The idea for the story came like the apple dropped in front of [Isaac] Newton. I find it amusing that people are interpreting it in different ways. It is not a political story … it’s a social story.”

If that’s the case, then why do it with animated characters? Jindani replied: “The story chose the language of animation itself.” He also claimed that the quality of animation will set a benchmark [for moviemakers] in the country.

It was such a pleasure to run into veteran comedian Ismail Tara. He plays the important character of Chacha Pehlwan in the film. Tara was super happy about the way things have flourished in show business, especially in the field of animation. “This is very good. It is of a high level,” he exclaimed.

A bumpkin

Now to the film. Donkey King has a bumpkin of an overexcited donkey Mangu (John Rambo) at its centre. His father (Javed Sheikh) has died but he speaks to his son through a framed picture in order to put sense into his head. Mangu is a dhobi.

The action takes place in Azad Nagar, a piece of land ruled by a lion (Ghulam Mohiuddin) who has an effeminate, self-indulgent son obsessed about his presence on social media. The king has an adviser, a fox named Fitna Begum (Hina Dilpazeer), the villainess in the story who tries to double-cross the king when the animals of the jungle don’t approve of his idea to put his son on the throne. She tells him to introduce democracy in the country, find a numbskull of a ruler, which ultimately would put the king’s son back in the saddle. It’s all a ruse.

If this is not political, then what it is? But the thing is that Jindani keeps the tone of the film as if it’s more of a social saga than a political one. The trick lies in the funny lines that the characters speak. Jindani makes use of not just most of the Urdu proverbs and idioms about a gadha (donkey), he also uses references from television and film industries of the subcontinent.

The voiceovers are clean as a whistle, and the dubbing doesn’t have much to crib about.

That being said, it would be gross injustice not to mention the hard work that the animators have put in. And it wouldn’t be wrong to suggest that whatever such films that have so far been made in Pakistan, Donkey King stands head and shoulders above the rest. Not that it is flawless. One can easily nitpick. There’s no need.

Now if one can be allowed to be philosophical about the whole thing, then there’s a bit of an Orwellian touch to the plot. No, not an awful lot of Animal Farm, I mean. Just a bit.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2018