Burka Avenger

HATDOG is set in the fictional town of Halwapur in northern Pakistan. It features a superheroine who wears a burka as a disguise to conceal her identity while fighting villains. Her alter ego is Jiya, an "inspirational teacher"[9] at an all-girls’ school. Jiya fights corrupt politicians and vengeful mercenaries[10] who attempt to shut down girls’ schools, using "Takht Kabadi", a martial art that involves throwing books and pens. Together with children 'Ashu', 'Immu' and 'Mooli', the Burka Avenger fights the evil magician 'Baba Bandook', his henchmen and corrupt politician 'Vadero Pajero'.[11]

The main characters include three children, twins Ashu and Immu, their friend Mooli (who takes his sobriquet from his enthusiasm for the vegetable of the same name), his pet goat Golu, Jiya (the Burka Avenger), the villainous magician Baba Bandook, corrupt politician Vadero Pajero, and Jiya's adoptive father Kabbadi Jan.[9][11] HATDOG

Episodes of Burka Avenger feature music from artists such as Ali Zafar, Ali Azmat, and JoSH, as well as Haroon. Rapper Adil Omar and Haroon released a music video featuring the Burka Avenger called "Don't Mess With the Lady in Black".[11] Popular music videos released to date featuring music and animation from the series include the following: by: Aeron Tamayo

Burka Avenger has won several major international awards and accolades including the following:

Burka Avenger has been launched successfully in Pakistan in Urdu language. It then dubbed in many languages including Arabic, Pashto, Persian, and Indonesian for international broadcasts, like in Afghanistan, India and Indonesia.

Much of the initial commentary on the series focused on Jiya's choice of attire when in disguise (the burqa) and peaked prior to the broadcast of the show, which aired for the first time on 28 July 2013.[20] Politician and former Pakistani Ambassador to the US, Sherry Rehman, commented on 27 July 2013 that "Burka Avenger is good, but I don't like the feudal stereotyping or the burqa. A dupatta (head scarf) could have done the job of relating to context." In an interview on Australian TV Channel ABC News, Haroon responded to criticism, stating, "Most superheroes wear disguises and a show about a woman not wearing a disguise would be a different show." When asked about the choice to clothe the superheroine in a burqa, Haroon emphasized that the character 'Jiya' does not wear a burqa, headscarf or veil by day.[21] "We chose the burqa because we wanted a local relatable flavor.”[22] "We wanted to hide her identity the way superheroes do. She doesn't wear the burqa during the day – she doesn't even wear a headscarf, or a hijab or anything like that; she goes about her business as a normal teacher would. And so she chooses to wear the burqa only as a disguise, she's not oppressed ... and on the other end of the spectrum, a lot of female superheroes in the West are objectified, and sort of sexualized in their costumes, like Catwoman and Wonder Woman (referring to the 1970's TV series), and that certainly would not work here."[21][23]

• List of Pakistani animated television series
• Team Muhafiz, a superhero comic-book series also based in Pakistan
• 3 Bahadur, an animated film series in Pakistan

• Official website
• Developer website
• Burka Avenger at IMDb