In 1908, French cartoonist named Emile Cohl created the first fully animated film named “Fantasmagorie” using some 700 drawings. Since then the industry has come a long way. In 2019, the VFX, animation, and the gaming industry were valued at $264 billion. Pakistan jumped a little late in the game with the introduction of Pakistan’s superhero called Commander Safeguard which motivated others to join the bandwagon with Lifebouy Germ-Busters, Baanke Mian, and Burka Avengers to count a few. All of these were small animations mostly made for advertisements but then came 2015 with Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s first full-length animated film called “3 Bahadur”. This marked history as it showed that the Pakistani animation industry has begun to flourish.
These first small steps and then the giant leap made a pathway for other animation entities in the country. In January 2018, 3rd World Studios released their first animated film “Allahyar and the Markhor” written and directed by Uzair Zaheer Khan, which grossed over 50 million rupees which were followed by Talisman Animation Studio’s “Donkey King” which grossed around 250 million rupees to become Pakistan’s highest-grossing animated film and sixth highest-grossing Pakistani film of all time. Pakistani animators also went on to do more similar projects but with all this talent in the country, there are still a lot of factors that are slowing down the growth of this huge industry.
In an interview, Tariq Mehmood, the CEO of Creativesip, a Dubai based Pakistani animation studio mentioned that most of these creative designers leave the country due to lack of support and recognition, he stated “There are plenty of 3D artists who have migrated from Pakistan and are doing extremely well in International companies. In Pakistan, 3D artists are pretty much ignored. They don’t get proper education, recognition, or rewards for their skills and eventually either opt for another country or change profession altogether.”
It was also mentioned by Majid Khan a Pakistani animator who mostly works with IOS applications that there is a lot of talent in the country but they have chosen to work abroad in Hollywood for the sole reason that they are not recognized in their own country and are not to be blamed for looking after themselves. Some of them even went on to grab huge academy awards including some Oscars. These academy award-winning movies include The Golden Compass, The Life of Pi, and Frozen.
One of the major problems faced by Pakistani animators is the lack of resources and training. It is a big reason that stops raw talent from transforming into something big. Aziz Jindani, a film director and writer while speaking at the Potential for Animation in Pakistan seminar said “Formal institutions are too few and most inadequate in the curriculum. So it boils down to on-the-job training. This makes it challenging because financial returns get delayed and people lose resilience.” These claims were supported by Asif Iqbal, the CEO of Bridge Animation studios. According to him, the country’s situation is deteriorating and talent development is seeing a decline despite a rise in new projects.
Shahzad Rafique a Pakistani director claimed that special effects mostly are not needed in Pakistani films and whenever they do need it, they go to Bangkok for these effects ignoring the local talent in the process. This claim was challenged by a lot of Pakistani animators; one of them named Haseeb Ahmed said that there are no technical issues in the country. The writers and directors are not very creative and are stuck with old school writing formulas. He added that the local animators are not as good as international animators because as they are not given large scale projects to gain experience from, just as Shahzad Rafique said.
Pakistan being a developing country has a lack of resources for all kinds of art projects including the newly established animation industry. The animation process is costly and people might be able to pull it off on a smaller scale but big projects require huge capital which a lot of Pakistani producers are not willing to provide. An animation student Farheen Bano points it out in an interview and shows displeasure towards the visual effects added to the local films. The effects used in a fight scene in a movie were off-putting according to her; she blamed the outdated and inexpensive camera tricks for it. These are the same kind of tricks used in the 80’s films like Son of Andata and Shani with a touch of modernity. It was acceptable at that time but in this new digital world full of awe-inspiring technology, it is unacceptable and hints at indolence.
Asif Iqbal of Bridge animations agrees with the statement of Haseeb Ahmed where he mentioned the absence of good writers in the industry. At Pakistan International Film Festival 2019 he points out this problem saying even though they have made amazing films in the past but the country is still inadequate when it comes to quality writers and production design.
With famous animated films such as Allahyar and the Markhor, Donkey King, 3 Bahadur, and series such as Quaid Se Baatien and Burqa Avengers, the future for the Pakistani animation industry might look very bright but all these snags and hitches must be pulled out as soon as possible if the industry is to advance smoothly. At Pakistan International Film Festival 2019, the animated films were given a special mention where Advisor to Chief Minister Murtaza Wahab talked about keeping tax exemption for the industry on the table and DG Rangers Sindh Major General Umar Bukhari motivated the youth interested in taking part in the process. Despite all of it, we still have a long way to go. A global multi-billion-dollar industry with a 3% increase annually is not an industry that should be cast aside by the media giants of Pakistan.
Renewable energy has emerged as a game-changer in the global energy landscape, offering sustainable and… Read More