PremiumJohn Abraham on The Diplomat: ‘It is film in the zone of Argo, but with…’
The Diplomat, directed by Shivam Nair, is based on the real-life story of an Indian national woman, who was honey-trapped into marrying a Pakistani, and how the Indian embassy got her back home
Last Updated: 06.44 PM, Mar 13, 2025
John Abraham is at the centre of the tale of The Diplomat, which releases in theatres on March 14, 2025. He is the title character – the Diplomat – JP Singh, who has to investigate if the woman seeking help at the Indian Embassy in Pakistan is truly an Indian citizen and if her claims of having been honey-trapped into marrying a Pakistani man, who turns out to be more than just abusive, hold water. The story is based on a true incident, with late foreign minister Sushma Swaraj and diplomat JP Singh, whom John plays in the film, actively involved in getting her back to India. The current foreign minister, S Jaishankar, who was also a diplomat back then, also played a part in this mission.
The Diplomat follows the 20-odd days when all hell broke loose in India and Pakistan
John, who has been favouring geo-political stories as his production ventures, came across the script of The Diplomat at a producer’s house and once he started reading, it caught his attention. So much so that by the end of it, he called the writer Ritesh Shah and told him that he wants to make the film happen. In an interview with Republic World, John explained that what drew him to the film was what diplomat JP Singh did to “bring this girl back home”. “She’d been housed in the Indian embassy for 20-odd days and all hell broke loose in both India and Pakistan,” explains John, who has also produced geopolitical action dramas like Parmanu and Batla House.
The difficulty in repatriating the girl home was that she was married to a Pakistani national. “How JP Singh manoeuvred the situation and brought her back, with the help of a few people in Pakistan is what the film is about. It’s pretty much like Argo, where they got Americans out of Tehran. The Diplomat is a film in a similar space, but with a lot of emotion in the end.
The Diplomat also stars Sadia Khateeb, Revathy, Kumud Mishra and Sharib Hashmi in pivotal roles. Following its theatrical run, the action drama The Diplomat will head to Netflix.