The diplomat tells the story of a tough Indian diplomat who goes above and beyond to assist an Indian woman in Pakistan who is in great need, based on actual events that happened less than ten years ago.
The film features a woman in serious distress, a country where all the bad guys are, and an adventurous Indian hero facing overwhelming odds—all the elements of a traditional Bollywood drama. But The Diplomat isn’t a mediocre film. Even a thriller in the traditional sense isn’t applicable. It begins slowly, increases gradually, and then snaps solidly into place as it hits its straps. The movie represents a significant change from the norm for star John Abraham.
Abraham gives up his role as an action hero and adopts the persona of the title character, a law-abiding man. The performance’s remarkable restraint perfectly complements the restrained tone that provides the film with a firmly credible core. The story is tightly controlled by director Shivam Nair (Naam Shabana) and screenwriter Ritesh Shah (Udham Singh, Faraaz), who make it as accurate as possible for a fictitious depiction of a real-life event.
The Diplomat is a gripping and compelling story that avoids excessive dramatization and overt violence. At the center of the movie are a hero who doesn’t back down and a resilient young lady who isn’t going to let her bad luck win. The male protagonist accomplishes nothing with his fists, which is not what makes him a man. He acts as the busy woman’s savior, yet she must struggle for her independence largely on her own initiative. These two are the only main characters in a star-driven Hindi film that are as grounded in reality as they are. Although caught in a harrowing situation, they speak and act like actual people.
Undoubtedly, The Diplomat is not a bold exposé of a well-organized transnational ring. India’s envoy’s mission to save the girl is a unique instance. A girl whose future is at stake is the subject of a heated negotiation in the movie, which centers on an Indian serving a significant cause. None of the story’s threads are permitted to grow beyond realistic proportions. The idea that practically everything is wrong on the other side of the border and that things are better here could be the driving force for the movie. However, it refrains from denouncing a country.
Few career diplomats could match John Abraham’s brawniness. However, the actor’s portrayal of J.P. Singh, a strong guy who serves as deputy commissioner in the Indian high commission in Islamabad, uses his intelligence and natural courage to forward the cause of the country and the plot. Navigating the intimidatingly icy intricacies of India-Pakistan relations is no easy task. So, what the diplomat seeks to achieve in the face of severe adversities amounts to an act of enormous courage performed in the line of duty. He is a soldier minus the battle fatigues.
Of course, the audience knows that he will pull it off no matter what. How he does it is what constitutes the substance of the story. Much of it is eminently watchable. The diplomat navigates a bunch of knotty issues that are at play as he tries to free Uzma Ahmed (Sadia Khateeb) from the clutches of a rogue who lures her across the border, holds her captive and tortures her. Uzma’s troubles begin when she meets Tahir (Jagjeet Sandhu), a seemingly amiable guy, in Malaysia. The man takes her to one of the most lawless parts of Pakistan and heaps unspeakable atrocities on her before forcing her into marriage.
When all appears to be lost, Uzma manages to give Tahir the slip and ends up in India’s Islamabad embassy, where Singh not only gives her refuge, he also swings into action by activating the political and diplomatic machinery to help her out of the tight spot she has landed in. A long, arduous battle ensues and Singh is called upon to walk a tightrope so as not to let the unpredictable nature of Indo-Pak ties queer the pitch. As he doubles down to the task, the diplomat keeps the then Minister for External Affairs Sushma Swaraj (played by Revathi).
His adversaries are a handful of nasty people who aggravate the rescue mission, but not everybody in Pakistan is on the side of evil. He has the active support of a Pakistani advocate (a terrific Kumud Mishra), who throws his lot behind Uzma. Nair moves away from his favoured domain of intrepid secret agents – besides Naam Shabana, he co-directed the espionage series Special OPS and Mukhbir: The Story of a Spy – and delves into the world of diplomacy where caution and measured tactic, and not muscular, armed interventions, hold the key. The shift informs the film in both substance and spirit.
While the film does not flinch one bit from bringing out the horrors that Uzma endured, it stays well within the limits of reality even if that means confining the lead actor within a defined and constricted dramatic space and doing away with the commercial elements that inevitably overrun into Bollywood films of this nature. The Diplomat harps upon the theory that in Pakistan the law is often followed more in the breach than otherwise, but it does not actually go in for the ‘failed nation’ refrain beyond what is essential for the setting of the stage for the moves that JP Singh makes without expectations of a pat on the back.
Of course, the audience is given enough reason to root for him and Uzma. The script, based on accounts provided to the screenwriter by the two key real-life personages, does nothing to undermine the tangibility of the tale. Cinematographer Dimo Popov, who also shot Mukhbir: The Story of a Spy, lends the film sustained visual solidity, enhancing both the intensity and the restlessness that JP Singh’s mission entails.
John Abraham is given the chance by The Diplomat to develop into a person who is not prone to impulsive responses to provocations. He does the part well. Sadia Khateeb, who portrayed one of the sisters in the regressive Raksha Bandhan, starring Akshay Kumar, is given the opportunity to showcase her skills.
Both Jagjeet Sandhu, in the part of a startlingly hateful man, and Kumud Mishra, as usual, are strong. Sharib Hashmi excels in a scene that would have benefited from further video. Overall, the movie does almost everything correctly. Needless to say, that is no small accomplishment.
