Written by: Subboh Jaffery
Posted on: October 15, 2018 | 
| 中文
Jan Mangu, voiced by Jan Rambo
After an entire weekend of checking every cinema in Karachi for tickets, I finally caught a show of Aziz Jindani’s new animated comedy movie, ‘The Donkey King.’ It’s apparent that The Donkey King is doing some great debut weekend business and is a success thus far. The trailer released on 23rd September, 2018, causing some social media hype, with the public excited by the political satire. After a successful premiere, Pakistan’s most-expensive-ever animated movie released on 12thOctober, 2018.
The film stars a much acclaimed list of actors with the lead, Jan Mangu, voiced by Jan Rambo. The leading antagonist, Miss Fitna, is performed by the evergreen Hina Dilpazeer, more popularly known as ‘Momo,’ from her iconic character in ARY’s hit drama ‘Bulbulay.’ Ghulam Mohiuddin plays the supporting character, Badshah Khan, while other cast members include Jawed Sheikh, Adeel Hashmi, Salman Shaikh or simply Mani, Faisal Qureshi and Irfan Khoosat.
The movie is set in the Kingdom of Azadnagar, which is populated by anthropomorphic animals. The hierarchy of the kingdom reflects our socially constructed animal roles. The king is a fierce alpha lion, Badshah Khan (Ghulam Mohiuddin), and his trusted advisor is a fox, known for her slyness, Miss Fitna (Hina Dilpazeer). At the bottom of the social structure, are the donkeys, one of whom is the protagonist: Jan Mangu (Jan Rambo). Jan Mangu is a washerman, and throughout the movie, he is mocked for being foolish and only good enough to carry stuff around. When the aging king, Badshah Khan decides to step down and give the throne to his son, Shahzada Khan (Adeel Hashmi), Miss Fitna, advises him against it. The prince is a spoilt brat obsessed with his social media presence, so Miss Fitna recommends introducing a democratic system. The king eventually agrees, and elections are held between the two candidates, Shahzada Khan and Mangu, which Mangu wins. The story follows the hysterical journey of Mangu finding himself as a candidate, winning the elections, and then struggling as the leader of Azadnagar.
The movie is absolutely hilarious for the right people i.e. teenagers and adults. While their tagline reads ‘Fun for All Ages,’ I beg to differ, as the film is mostly just political satire and commentary. It criticizes the democratic system, how we choose our leaders, how incompetent people find their way to the top, and how leaders are usually planted, rather than elected. It takes a shot at the media, mocking them for how the news manipulates the viewers. In a cinema full of children, it was the adults who burst into laughter more often. Apart from a few goofy moments, I don’t see how the film was enjoyable for the kids, and I walked out of the cinema to see a bunch of unamused children. In addition to that, the climax was disappointing, since it was fairly predictable. Overall, the plot could’ve done with a bit more work.
However, there were some brilliant aspects of the movie, and right off the bat, what terrific animation work. The animation was beautiful, smooth and with an unreal amount of attention to detail, which has definitely set a higher benchmark for animated movies in Pakistan. From the frame by frame movement, to the facial expressions, it was all fantastic. In addition to that, the music in the movie has been excellently composed. From the sound effects and background music all the way to the album itself, it was all superb. My favorite is the title song, ‘Donkey Raja,’ composed as any eastern song, with fun beats which make you want to dance, a super catchy chorus and bridge parts. The accompanying music video is really lively and entertaining to match.
The film has been getting decent reviews but has also been the center of much political attention, gaining a lot of social media traction due to this. Different parties are using it as part of their political agendas, calling each other’s leaders ‘The Donkey King.’ However, the director, Aziz Jindani, has insisted that the movie was meant to be a social commentary instead.
To sum up, The Donkey King is a fun watch. It’ll make you laugh here and there, and you’ll have a good time but just that and nothing more. If you don’t have anything exciting planned for the week, maybe you can go and watch it. I’ll give it a 7/10.
You may also like:
