Author: Mohammad Azeem
Abstract
This paper engages in textual analysis of 3 Bahadur (dir. Sharmeen O. Chinoy, 2015) and Allahyar and The Legend of the Markhor (dir. Uzair Zaheer Khan, 2018) to explore the portrayal of archetypal good and evil, the ideal male and female citizen, and the depiction of the enemy. The analysis is built upon the idea of ‘politics of innocence’ and the relationship of films with the audience's deep-rooted concerns about life. In this case, all the questions that arise from engaging with the aforementioned themes. The paper finds that while in 3 Bahadur, the ideal citizen embraces the power to fight the enemy that takes birth within the community, Allahyar and The Legend of the Markhor (ALM) pictures the enemy as someone residing outside the country and portrays Allahyar as the ‘Protector’. It also finds a different treatment of female protagonists in both films; where Mehru in ALM, though adventurous, is trapped by guilt for being one while Amna in 3 Bahadur, is supported by his father to fight off the villain. This analysis is primarily necessitated by the idea of innocence, employed by selected films, to scrutinize the didactic messaging which would otherwise go unchecked, for the innocence gives the tinge of ‘unintentional’ design making it more persuasive for the audience.
Keywords
Pakistani Animation, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Uzair Zaheer Khan, Citizenship, Nation in Cinema
