As compared to the past, today our children have access to multiple channels but no one is focusing on creating child-specific content. Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy broke this trend by making ‘3 Bahadur,’ the first ever animated film of Pakistan. ‘3 Bahadur’ is now five years old. A sequel to the film has already been released and the third and final episode titled ‘3 Bahadur: Rise of the Warriors’ will hit cinema screens on December 14.
Talking about this venture, Chinoy reveals that when she started making ‘3 Bahadur’ people around her were of the view that animated movies could not succeed in Pakistan but the success of 3 Bahadur amazed everyone. “Success of 3 Bahadur’s first episode reaffirms our belief that a market for animated movies exists here. We wanted our children to have their own super heroes and 3 Bahadur served this purpose. People often give me feedback about how their children are connecting themselves with the young characters of this movie and how they make efforts to emulate them,” said Chinoy.
She highlighted that prior to the release of ‘3 Bahadur,’ animation houses in Pakistan were working for foreign film industries. Now the trend is changing. “We are proud to be the pioneer in making animated movies in Pakistan and now others are also venturing in this field,” she added.
Talking about ‘3 Bahadur: Rise of the Warriors’, Chinoy reveals that the film is “full of drama”.
“We have shown the historic monuments of Pakistan as we want our children to be familiar with our native land. This part has only one song which is sung by Hadiqa Kiyani and composed by Baqir Abbas.”
“‘3 Bahadur the Rise of the warriors’ is different from its previous episodes as we are bringing women super heroes on the big screen for the first time in Pakistan cinema,” she added. Irma and Babushka are the two female super heroes played by Mehwish Hayat and Nimra Bucha respectively.”
Answering a question about selecting Hayat for the role of Irma, Chinoy reveals that when she saw her on big screen, she immediately decided that she has the perfect voice for the character.
“Hayat has a spunk about her which I liked a lot. To get her onboard I designed the character of Irma and sent it to her and to my delight, she accepted my offer immediately. On the other hand the role of Baushka suites Bucha. She is from theatre and on the basis of her experience she uses her voice well. I want children to see women as brave and dynamic so that they never belittle them.”
Chinoy also intends to take 3 Bahadur’s third sequel to international film festivals.
Hayat, who voices Irma thanked Chinoy for giving her the opportunity to become part of the ‘3 Bahdur’ series. Talking about her experience, Hayat said that it is not easy to incorporate expressions of an animated character only through voice. “It was challenging but also lot of fun. I wanted to do something for my younger fans and this was the best opportunity, I always wanted to be a super hero and presence of women super heros and other characters will empower children.” Giving some hints about the story line of the film, Chinoy said that in the previous episode, a vortex remained open and through it new people came in this world.
Published in Daily Times, December 14th 2018.