Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor


Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor is a Pakistani computer animated film directed by Uzair Zaheer Khan. It depicts the story of a young boy and his relationship with animals. The film is produced by 3rd World Studios and distributed by ARY Films. Set in the northern regions of Pakistan, the story follows Allahyar, a young and mischievous boy who ends up dealing with circumstances he never thought possible. The movie aims to shed light on the preservation and illegal hunting of wildlife, with main characters Mehru, Hero, and a snow leopard named Chak'ku being endangered species.
The film received a largely positive reaction by the general audience but received mixed to positive reviews by critics.

Cast

The movie was produced by 3rd World Studios for which the studio was awarded a dev grant by Epic games. It is the first movie produced entirely in Unreal Engine. The first song of the movie, a rendition of Zohaib Hassan's 1982 song "Muskuraye Ja", sung by Natasha Humera Ejaz and produced by Ahmed Ali, was officially released on 13 January 2018.

Reception

The film received attention by the media even soon after the initial teasers and trailers. It was admired for its theme on the awareness about wildlife conservation as well as being children movie which are not common in Pakistan.
Maleeha Mengal from Dunya News noted that the movie would "remain one of the most memorable stories for children for many years". It was also well received because producing animated movies is harder and costly.

Accolades

The film won the prestigious Monolith Award for Content at the Infinity Film Festival at Hollywood. It was also screened at South Asian International Film Festival at New York, where it received Best Feature Film in the Audience Choice category.