<h2>The Diplomat U/A: Action, thriller Dir: Shivam Nair Cast: John Abraham, Sadia Khateeb Rating: 1.5/5</h2>
I can make an educated guess; can&rsquo;t promise, obviously. But knowing a bit about how people working in the pictures predictably think&mdash;I suspect this film got greenlit, primarily because a crappola called <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/news/india-news/article/the-kerala-story-is-rss-agenda-to-humiliate-the-state-says-cm-vijayan-23343610" target="_blank" rel="none noopener">The Kerala Story,</a> with a similar premise, became a sleeper super-hit.
That is, an Indian woman trapped among Islamic fundamentalists. Which was almost a freak case for the box-office, in 2023.
Plus, this film follows flag-waving nationalism that, as an onscreen narrative device, if played right, often unequivocally unites audiences into theatres.&nbsp;
Especially, if it concerns India pitted against its errant/devious neighbour, Pakistan, in a Gadar kinda way, if you like.&nbsp;
Of all the gin-joints, hence&mdash;unless the other way around&mdash;the idea/script, altogether more aesthetic/realistic, lands in the hands of John Abraham, who&rsquo;s both actor and producer. His best work as the latter (Vicky Donor) is the one where he chose not to cast himself.&nbsp;
John picks up the main part of Indian deputy high commissioner in Islamabad. On the face of it, otherwise&mdash;this would seem an odd casting choice.&nbsp;
Given the lead actor has, over the years, bulked up enough to render himself almost unsuitable for most regular-guy roles. Least of all for a sincere, studious diplomat, one JP Singh, with his tight suits bursting at the seams from his biceps.
If you overlook all of that, eventually&mdash;he can be likeable onscreen, on occasion, of course.
This picture appears to be pretty much from his PoV. This protagonist gets flashes from a bomb blast at another embassy (Kabul) he was once posted in.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s a recurring set-up. Only, without a pay-off, that may be even vaguely related to this film&rsquo;s larger story. Let alone anything else.
What&rsquo;s that larger, or rather, singular story, this film follows? It&rsquo;s quite well-known, as in widely reported, actually. That of an Indian citizen, Uzma Ahmed, 28, who got forcibly married to a violent Pakistani crook, she&rsquo;d met as a taxi driver, in Malaysia.&nbsp;
She found herself in a hamlet called Buner, in the deep interiors of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK), surrounded by mountains and men with Kalashnikovs.&nbsp;
Just as citizens deserve consular access, if detained abroad&mdash;this woman, under house-arrest by supposedly terrorist-type dements in 2017, somehow planned her escape, reached Islamabad, sought help from the Indian embassy there.&nbsp;
Which is where she remained lodged for quite a few days, with her crazy husband and his mates, still hovering outside. India&rsquo;s then external affairs minister, much loved, late Sushma Swaraj, had personally tracked Uzma&rsquo;s safe passage.&nbsp;
This was a simple humanitarian case. Pakistan&rsquo;s local courts saw that, and favoured Uzma in their judgement too. She returned through the Wagah border; the same route/transport she&rsquo;d entered Pakistan (we&rsquo;re told, that&rsquo;s the law, I didn&rsquo;t know).&nbsp;
End of story. Full of bravery and compassion. No doubt. How do you expand this straight-up 10-minute documentary/news reel into a feature film for over two hours? Good question.&nbsp;
I&rsquo;m guessing through back-stories after back-stories, apart from context; what else? You got one job, and one lead character too; no?
It&rsquo;s odd then that I left the theatre with enough questions in my head, to learn more about Uzma from basic internet searches, than this film. That she is/was apparently a sufficiently educated, upper middle-class Delhi woman, with estranged parents, in the Netherlands.&nbsp;
Or that she had a child from a previous marriage. There&rsquo;s reference, in the movie, to her taking &ldquo;[kid] Noor for naturopathy [to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa]?&rdquo; Just a mention. No follow-up.&nbsp;
Likewise, it&rsquo;s hard to tell anything about the KPK crook, once a Kuala Lumpur cabbie, who entraps her. Besides, that he lives in a barren farm, where women get treated like slaughterhouse animals.
But, maybe&mdash;that&rsquo;s not the point. This film is titled The Diplomat, after all.&nbsp;
Not to be confused with the American series by the same name, that sexes up the foreign service. Which, in turn, I guess, inspired the thoroughly delulu, Ulajh (2024), starring Janhvi Kapoor.&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s equally hard, still, to figure, what is it that Pakistan&rsquo;s sane-sounding spies from ISI, or the deep state, have to gain&mdash;going after a lonely, battered girl, wishing to head back home? Surely, there are reasons. Just can&rsquo;t tell what.&nbsp;
The simultaneously ongoing Kulbhushan Jadhav alleged-espionage case, at the International Court of Justice, is touched upon, but totally left alone.&nbsp;
John&rsquo;s character is involved in non-stop negotiations over Uzma. We look on clueless, as he simply goes, &ldquo;Yeh Pakistan hai&hellip; Yeh Pakistan hai&hellip;&rdquo; Implying being surrounded by loonies in a lawless land.&nbsp;
Including, of course, scenes of domestic ultra-violence, mercifully shot with close-up lens on the eyes of the Indian survivor. You do wanna feel for this woman, Uzma; with actor Sadia Khateeb, such a gorgeous presence, wonderfully picked for the part.&nbsp;
But you feel something/anything at all, only once the climax, courtroom scene onward, kicks in.&nbsp;
Uzma, in the conclusion, literally touches down&mdash;Indian soil, across the border, her hands feeling the concrete, and a version of<a href="https://www.mid-day.com/lifestyle/culture/article/a-r-rahman-performs-in-mumbai-pays-homage-to-his-guru-with-sufi-classics-23467107" target="_blank" rel="none noopener"> AR Rahman&rsquo;s</a> &lsquo;Bharat humko jaan se pyara hai&rsquo; (from Roja) for background score.&nbsp;
The filmmakers, of course, had a premise/beginning. They genuinely tried their best, in the end, to push some cinematic energy into a vacuum/hollowness thence.&nbsp;
I guess, you can try your best to sit through rest of the film too. Well. I did.&nbsp;
*YUCK &nbsp;**WHATEVER &nbsp;***GOOD &nbsp;****SUPER &nbsp;*****AWESOME
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This film follows flag-waving nationalism that, as an onscreen narrative device, if played right, often unequivocally unites audiences into theatre

The Diplomat movie review: John Abraham starrer is actually, a 10-minute news reel

My Melbourne movie review: When life falls apart and hope still remains

Especially, if it concerns India pitted against its errant/devious neighbour, Pakistan, in a Gadar kinda way, if you like. 

The Diplomat review: John Abraham starrer is actually, a 10-minute news reel

The Diplomat
U/A: Action, thriller
Dir: Shivam Nair
Cast: John Abraham, Sadia Khateeb
Rating: 1.5/5

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