Geo Films & Talisman
Animation Studios have officially released the theatrical trailer
of their upcoming animated movie “The Donkey King”
on September 24, 2018.
The Donkey King is helmed by
Aziz Jindani, the architect of the success of Pakistan’s first and most popular
animated super hero series for a leading anti-bacterial soap brand. A teaser trailer of the film was released about
a month ago and fetched over 2 million views across digital platforms with its
lead character Mangu achieving near cult status since then as children &
children at heart are widely seen imitating the catch phrase from the teaser
“My Name is Mangu, Mangu! Jan Mangu! The Washing Machine.”
Riding on the shoulders of a
successful teaser, the hopes were only higher from the theatrical
trailer and it surely exceeds all expectations. Just under two and
half minutes of run time the trailer traces the journey of Mangu from an
ordinary world to accidentally becoming the king of Azad Nagar. Only to realize
that this was all part of a Machiavellian web set up by the cunning Miss Fitna
(Fox). It goes onto set the contest between Mangu and Miss Fitna but keeps the
audience yearning for more to discover if Mangu succeeds in rising to be a true
king or not? The makers have also capitalized on the pop culture by stitching a
gag at the end with reference to meat balls made of donkey meat. In short, the trailer has all the making of a
mass entertainer with humor, action, adventure and song & dance. It surely
lives up to its tag line “a fun film for all ages.”
The trailer also
unveils the ginormous voice cast of the film with some of the biggest names of
the industry including; Jan Rambo, Hina Dilpazir, Javed Sheikh, Ghulam
Mohiuddin, Erfan Khoosat, Ismail Tara, Mani, Adeel Hashmi, Irfan Malik &
Ali Hassan, Faisal Qureshi, Ahsan Rahim, Shabbir Jan and Shafaat Ali. It is
undoubtedly the biggest ensemble coming together for a Pakistani film of any
genre.
The trailer also whets the
musical appetite by giving a sneak peek into, what appears to be, the title
track of the film “Donkey Raja”. The songs are composed by Shuja Haider, Shani
Arshad, Asrar & Majid Raza. The background score is composed by Shani
Arshad and recorded with live orchestra at the Budapest Film orchestra, a first
for any Pakistani film.
The maker, Aziz Jindani,
shares his views and states, “The
Donkey King is an attempt to leap frog Pakistani films in general
and animated films in particular. The film indeed speaks to the children but
continuously winks at the adults. We have been deliberate to not get
straitjacketed by the stereotype of ‘what an animated film is expected to be’.
In just under 105mins of runtime The Donkey King packs in a kaleidoscopic
cinematic experience. It will make you laugh, will leave you moist eyes at
places, will get you at the edge of your seat with suspense & thrill and
above all deliver a meaningful message that will inspire children &
children at heart to dream big and discover their full potential.”
In closing, going by what we
see in the trailer, the Donkey King promises to be a film with a big heart, big
star cast and big box office potential. We are surely queuing up at the cinemas
first day, first show on Oct 13, 2018 when the film is set to rule cinemas
across Pakistan.