Aziz Jindani, the man behind The Donkey King, speaks to Instep about the genre and his fascination for animations.
Three big releases dominated cinemas nationwide this week and amidst the hoopla of these feature films, one big-mouthed donkey made quite an impressive trailer entry, leaving everyone intrigued for more. It’s reassuring to know that Pakistani filmmakers are exploring all sorts of film genres as the industry picks up steam and the favourite subject of animations appear to be animals; we had a fun troupe of northern beasts in Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor earlier this year and now we have The Donkey King, coming up soon.
Slated to release on October 13, the reins of this project are in the capable hands of marketing genius, Aziz Jindani. It does not come as a surprise that Aziz has chosen animation as his preferred genre for storytelling because he was also the mastermind behind the first Pakistani superhero, Commander Safeguard, who became quite a game changer for product advertisements in Pakistan. Why exactly did he love this genre, we were curious to know.
“(There are) two reasons why I am fascinated with the genre,” he said. “The first is that I love animated characters because they can emote like humans but are free from physical limitations and second is that I’m a lazy guy so animation fits my style as an entire film can be done without the need to step out of the studio.”
Generally speaking, donkeys are very low on the animal kingdom hierarchy; the poor a** has been the subject of mockery and is made fun of everywhere; remember those Tom & Jerry cartoons? The epithet ‘donkey’ is often used to berate a person or mock him. So, then what made Jindani go for a donkey to be the lead character?
“The Donkey King is a classic hero’s journey where Mangu is exported from an ordinary world to an extra ordinary world,” the director explained. “Enroute he rises, falls and rises again to prove to the world that while he is born a donkey, he is actually not one,” said Aziz.
“Hum gadhay hein aur Insha’Allah gadhay hi rahengay,” Mangu’s father says in the trailer. Does this film in anyway hint towards the political state of affairs in Pakistan? Is it a socio-political satire?
“I have been getting a lot of similar queries if this film has got anything to do with elections but the film has no connection with that per se,” Jindani replied. “But yes, it has a taste of satire and one will have to read between the lines. I will leave that to the judgement of the viewers and will not spoil the fun for them by giving away the plot,” he shared excitedly.
How well did Jindani expect the film to perform at the box office given that animations were generally considered kids’ films. Wouldn’t a film like this appeal more to kids than adults?
“The strongest thing about The Donkey King is that it is not age bound and it provides fun for all ages. Its unique, locally relevant storyline, tongue in cheek dialogues and characters are built to last. In fact, I feel the content is such that it should be supported by authorities via tax exemption to afford wider reach to families that are starved for good, clean and purposeful content,” responded a self-assured Jindani.
Animation films may sound like a recent phenomenon in Pakistan but globally speaking, it has already completed its 100th year in 2017. The first ever animated feature film was released back in 1917 by the name The Apostle and today, animated movies are box office juggernauts. It is exciting and encouraging to see that Pakistani cinema is not only excelling in one genre but is also exploring other mediums of story-telling and who knows, this donkey may just turn out to be a trailblazer.
– Sadiq Saleem is a Dubai based entertainment journalist. He is also an Instep & Something Haute correspondent and can be contacted on his page fb/sidsaidso.
