In 2012, a Pakistani made history by winning an Oscar for the first time — director Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy won the Academy award for best documentary (short subject) for the film Saving Face. Three years later, Chinoy is back with another first-of-its-kind project in Pakistan: the country’s first 3D animated full-length superhero film 3 Bahadur.
At the premiere of the film on Friday, film personalities, actors, artists and fashion industry personalities were in attendance, reflecting the interest this film has generated across the country.
3 Bahadur is a story about three children, Amna, Kamil and Saadi, who attain super powers and use them to save their town Roshan Basti (town of light) that has become a ghost town Andher Basti (town of darkness) full of evil men who work for Lord Mangu, who lives in a clock tower overlooking the town. The three superheroes have different powers that help them to take on crooks, criminals and extortionists.
Amna has the power of speed, Kamil has the power of superhuman hearing and Saadi has the power to calculate. As the story progresses they are given more powers to fight Mangu in the final epic battle. Amna gains the power to protect with a shield against all kinds of forces. Saadi is given the power to create a black hole while Kamil gets the power to jump high in the air.
“Of all the projects that I have taken up till now, this one is the closest to my heart. I started the project three years ago and have been busy in making sure that the film is as perfect as possible. You see, animation takes years to do. It requires a lot of patience as well as investment,” said Chinoy at the premiere.
“This film has been made possible because of the talent and dedication of exceptional illustrators, writers, animators and visual effects artists. It is a very local story. Our aim is to give Pakistani children the chance to see people like them on screen for the first time in a story that reflects upon the things they see around them.”
Two songs feature prominently in the film: One song showing the prosperity of Roshan Basti, and another one at the end showing hope and relief after the superheroes have saved the day.
The lyrics were written by Shakeel Sohail and Umair Hassan while the songs were produced, mixed, mastered and sung by acclaimed musician Shiraz Uppal.
“I have kept the music upbeat to lift up the hearts of music lovers. I have used scenes from the film as sources of inspiration for the different tracks,” Uppal explained.
Chinoy hopes 3 Bahadur will serve as a model for future projects.
“Animation in this country may be in its infancy but I firmly believe that there is a place for all sorts of mediums and stories within the Pakistani film industry,” she said. “I believe 3 Bahadur has set a test model and there will be many people who will be making animated films after us. If we succeed, other people will follow in our footsteps and that would be the success of our animation industry.”
