Kudos to John Abraham for producing and his realistic portrayal in The Diplomat, a film based on true events of kidnapping of an Indian woman to Pakistan and her struggles for seeking repatriation to her motherland. It’s Sadia Khateeb who shines in this political thriller, while John Abraham has grown up a step higher in his acting profession, without any display of his macho image.
John plays the Deputy High Commissioner of India in Pakistan and truly succeeds in displaying diplomacy and personal conflicts of the character’s role (Indian Dy High Commissioner) that of a father, a team leader and a high level Indian Diplomat. The film demonstrates Indian diplomat in Pakistan, J P Singh’s superb maneuvering and accomplishment of sending back the Indian captive, actual efforts of the ex Foreign minister Sushma Swaraj’s determination to bring back ‘Bharat ki Beti’ depicting almost every incident without taking cinematic liberties, as conveyed by John Abraham while addressing the media.
With her daughter suffering from Thalassemia, the single mother Uzma Ahmed (Sadia Khateeb) comes to Malaysia with the desire to earn decent money for her daughter’s treatment. There she comes in touch with Taheer (Jagjeet Sandhu) who traps her by promising cure and treatment for her daughter. They travel to Pakistan where Uzma realizes that Taheer is already married, having children. She is abused and treated like a slave, being pushed into human trafficking.
The trapped woman sweet talks to her kidnapper and somehow manages to break high security to enter into the Indian embassy premises in Pakistan, where she is initially looked at with suspicion, but naturally. The Diplomat exhibits the process of navigating the moral and ethical challenges, complexities of international diplomacy, usually purported unpredictable Pakistani legal systems, and pressure from both the Indian and Pakistani governments.
Call it to Uzma’s luck, unlike the largely perceived radical and fanatical views of the Pakistanis, The Diplomat honestly chronicles the balanced view of a Pakistani judge and it’s judicial system which finally approve of her repatriation.
What works for the film is that it has fairly decent production values, remarkable performances right from the victim to the Dy High Commissioner, the staff of Indian Embassy, the Pakistani counterparts and it’s flawless narration which ventures into flash backs that elucidate the present situation of the pivotal characters. Noteworthy are Sadia Khateeb’s soul stirring performance and John Abraham’s intensity.
Much to relief of the viewers, The Diplomat is deftly edited without any moments of boredom and this political thriller successfully manages to keep you engrossed all through its run time of 137 minutes.
Jeet Raidutt as Aamir
Credits of The Diplomat:
Production companies – T-Series Films, JA Entertainment, Wakaoo Films, Seeta Films, Fortune Pictures
Produced by Bhushan Kumar, John Abraham, Krishan Kumar, Vipul D Shah, Ashwin Varde, Rajesh Bahl, Samir Dixit, Jatish Varma, Rakesh Dang
Directed by Shivam Nair
Written by Ritesh Shah
Cinematography by Dimo Popov
Edited by Kunal Walve
Songs by Manan Bhardwaj, Anurag Saikia
BGM Score – Ishaan Chhabra