Bablu (Urdu/Pashto: ببلو, Babalo (Urdu)/Bablo (Pashto)) is the secondary antagonist of the 2018 Paskistani animated film Allahyar and the Legend of Markhor.
He was voiced by Arieb Azhar.
Biography[]
Bablu is first seen by Allahyar when he takes a walk in the forest. He is greeted by him and he does the same.
Bablu goes to work to his grocery store. Allahyar comes and commands him a pack of cookies. Bablu gives him and notices that the boy looks sad. Before Allahyar can tell why he is sad, Bablu notices a group of children gathered near a cliff. The reason is that they would have seen a leopard.
In the night, Bablu is riding a vehicle with his friend Mani. They have captured a markhor named Mehru and are riding toward their lair. Due to the bumpy road, the crate in which the markhor is contained falls onto the road. Having noticed this, the two poachers return to the place where they lost the game, that is to say the home of the protagonist Allahyar. Mani knocks out Allahyar’s father while his accomplice kidnaps the young boy.
On the road, Mani asks Bablu why he cares so much about the child. The latter replies that he knows him and that he is innocent. Mani immediately stops the vehicle and strongly advises Bablu to leave it where they are. Bablu accepts but is quickly stopped by Mani who judges the child as a troublesome witness. They leave on the road. Bablu makes it known that he is not inclined to kill the child. Mani sarcastically suggests adopting him and lets go of the wheel as they drive down a ravine.
They finally arrive at their lair. Bablu shakes his hands with Mani as sign of their friendship but he does not like it when Mani is hitting Allahyar put into a bag for no other reason than be sadistic. He asks him to stop and Mani tells him he was just joking. The latter asks him to pick up a hunter from an airport to take him on a markhor's hunt on the moutain of Sia Koh. Bablu gets the key and is asked by Mani to lock Allahyar and the animal into the storage room. Bablu goes to unlock the house but Allahyar manages to free himself and Mero. Mani quickly sees this and Bablu runs after them. The young hero stumbles over a stone and accidentally let go Merhu in a ravine. Bablu arrives and tries to reassure Allahyar as best he can, but the young boy, overwhelmed by Bablu's true nature, kicks him in the leg and jumps into the ravine too. Initially devastated, Bablu hears a noise and joined by Mani, they look down the ravine and discover Allahyar on a ridge. Bablu reaches out to get the boy out of this mess. Mani laughs and suggests that he go get him down the ridge. Under Mani's mocking suggestions, Bablu does the same. However, before Bablu can catch them, the ridge splits in two and Allahyar and Mehru fall down.
Climbing back with Mani's help, Bablu mourns the death of his old friend. Mani consoles him by telling him that the boy was suicidal. He also says that to be rich you have to make certain sacrifices. Bablu tells him that he doesn't want to make money by killing people. Mani tries to reason with him by saying that killing and hunting is the same because in the end, a life is a life, it doesn't matter if it is a human being or an animal. Mani still decides to go find them and leaves Bablu there.
Bablu reappears near Sia Koh, having previously being called by Mani to get here. He is with a hunter driving a vehicle and they have captured Mehru again. They stop on the road and Bablu takes several selfies of the hunter with his cell phone. They go there but they get caught in a trap made by Allahyar and Mehru. Mani joins them and tries to kill Allahyar once and for all. Bablu begs him to leave the child alone, but Mani simply ignores him, although he frees him and the hunter from the trap. Unfortunately for Mani, Bablu, impressed by Allahyar's altruistic courage and tired of Mani's ruthlessness, trips Mani, causing him to fall. He then knocks him out with a stick therefore redeeming himself.
Personality[]
Bablu is presented as a kind-hearted man who has compassion for the young Allahyar when he was bullied. Even when his true nature as a criminal poacher comes to the surface, he is still genuinely kind to the boy, wanting absolutely to avoid harming him. He is completely distraught when he believes Allahyar to be dead because of his fall from the cliff. Unlike Mani, he sees a great difference between the value of an animal's life and a human's life. This is the reason why he listens to his heart and follows redemption at the end.
Bablu is somewhat slow-minded, listening to Mani's suggestions every time even if they are going against both interests. Kidnapping the young Allahyar gave themselves much more trouble than needed and he was also willing to leave him off the road situated around a deserted cliff, putting them at risk of being reported by the child.