The Diplomat review: John Abraham, Sadia Khateeb’s thriller based on real events falls short of perfection

The Diplomat review: Film features John as a restrained diplomat, lacking action but building tension.

The Diplomat
Cast: John Abraham, Sadia Khateeb
Director: Shivam Nair
Rating: ★★★.5

Right off the bat, there’s something about The Diplomat holding me back from awarding it 4 stars. It ticks all the boxes on the checklist for a decent thriller: edge of the seat moments, a pacy background score, and a gripping narrative. Yet it isn’t nearly a perfect watch.

John Abraham in a still from The Diplomat, which releases in theatres on March 7.

Directed by Shivam Nair (of Naam Shabana fame) and starring John Abraham and Sadia Khateeb in the leading roles, this one is based on the real-life story of Indian national Uzma Ahmad. She was brought back to India in 2017 after allegedly being honey trapped by a Pakistani man. She revealed she was made to marry at gunpoint and abused after she visited him in his country. Of course, it has been dramatised quite a lot for the big screen audience.

What works in The Diplomat

Let’s talk about the good bits first. If you’re going in expecting John to bash up goons (his ripped muscles threaten to tear his suit apart any second here), you will be disappointed. He doesn’t even swat a fly in this one. Playing real-life diplomat JP Singh, he keeps it refreshingly restrained. Wish something could have been done about him not expressing enough with his face. Is he too used to his hands doing the talking for him?

Anyway, the film begins with Uzma (Sadia) seeking the Indian Embassy’s help in Pakistan, and the viewer is thrown right in the middle of a tense situation. As it proceeds, the tension keeps building up. That’s a good sign. The intermission doesn’t make any sense though, because it leaves you without any high point to look forward to.

It’s a hard-hitting project otherwise, which has taken care of the second half curse- usually, a film’s pace goes down post intermission. But The Diplomat has been treated as one of those thriller games where you have to complete a mission riddled with car chases and stressful encounters. How Uzma finally crosses the India-Pakistan border to reach home is given a satisfying conclusion.

What needed work

Now, the disappointing bits. What’s with filmmakers obsessed with giving their protagonist a traumatic backstory? John’s character here is constantly reminded of something terrible in his past- but it doesn’t help. What it does is add layers to a story which was completely alright without it. Another burden is giving John’s character a family. It drags the film unnecessarily.

Also, even though not jingoistic, neighbour bashing is on full display here. Heck, even the last scene here is a smug John ridiculing Pakistan with a one liner. Indian characters here keep dropping a line each. Sharib Hashmi’s character Tiwari, in the climax, remarks to JP Singh ‘Iss mulk ne itna daraya hai, ki darr hi nikal gaya hai’ I am not commenting on the political affairs which went down in this case- but this isn’t a chest-thumping patriotic film to begin with. So even the attempt to make it ‘massy’ with such one liners makes one question what is it really that the makers set out to create.

Among the performances, Sadia easily stands out with a meaty role. She’s able to emote the pain and fear of Uzma well on screen, and fits the bill. Revathy as late former Indian External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj has limited screen time, but makes big impact. Sharib has nothing much to do. Jagjeet Sandhu is pretty bang on as the abusive Tahir. Kumud Mishra as advocate NM Sayyed is pleasant to watch, like always.

There’s no music in the film.

Overall, The Diplomat could have been a perfect thriller. It has got all the right ingredients. The execution keeps it from being excellent. 3.5 stars for the attempt.