The Diplomat instantly took the number-one spot on Netflix within two days of its release. The film is based on the real-life incident of an Indian girl, Uzma, who was trapped in Pakistan in 2017. What may look like a cross-border love story, within no time, turned into a horrendous episode for the then-27-year-old, who met a Pakistani citizen in Malaysia, and how he trapped her in Pakistan at gunpoint by marrying her. The film is based on true events.
Is The Diplomat factual or farcical?
John Abraham and Sadia Khateeb-starrer, The Diplomat tried sticking to the facts about the real-life story of Uzma Ahmed. At some point, it looks too real to believe, and like any other cinematic film, it took some creative liberties. The film, more than portraying and depicting the emotions of ‘Uzma’, talked about nationalism.
There are moments like a fictional attack on an Indian diplomat with a disclaimer, showing the maker’s hesitancy to convey the real story. Not only this, the simple screenplay fails to convert complex diplomacy, and there are some frames which lack emotional depth.
Who was Uzam Ahmed and how she landed in Pakistan?
Uzma Ahmed made it to the headlines in May 2017 after she was recused by the Indian High Commission in Pakistan. The efforts of Sushma Swaraj were deeply appreciated during those times. Uzma was then 27 years old and lived in Delhi. The young girl fell in love with a Pakistani man, Tahir Ali, in Malaysia, where she was studying business management.
Uzma had a daughter from their first failed marriage, and she lived with her grandmother in New Delhi. It is stated that she met in Malaysia, and he took her to POK. It is one of the remotest parts of northern Pakistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, on the Afghanistan border. However, upon going to Pakistan, she found out about Tahir being married with kids. Uzma was abducted, drugged and forced to get married at a gunpoint. She was even kept confined in a tiny house, and her travel documents were taken away.
How did Uzma escape the clutches of her Pakistani husband?
Uzma connected with her friend in Malaysia using the phone of a woman who was also kept captive by her husband. Her friend advised her to visit the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, anyhow, as authorities over there could help her. After this, Uzma tricked her husband and told him about the Indian tradition of the bride’s family giving money to the newly married couple. Uzma told Tahir that her brother, who works at the Indian High Commission, would hand over the money to her. After this, the Indian diplomats did their best to get her back to her homeland, and it was JP Singh and Sushma Swaraj who played crucial roles in her return to India. He even gave her shelter at Indian High Comission office. Talking about her ordeal in Pakistan, Uzma said:
“I went to Pakistan as a tourist. The situation changed there so fast that I couldn’t notice when Tahir gave me sleeping pill and when I slept. From my point of view, it was kidnapping because I wasn’t aware that situation will change so drastically after crossing the Wagah Border. After reaching, I saw there was a weird village, with weird language and weird people. Nothing was right there.”
Uzma’s life after return to India, where is she now?
After her return from Pakistan, Uzma was given a signing amount by a director, which was of Rs. 15 lakh as told by her to The Week. She revealed that with the amount, she bought a one-room home in Seelampur for a year herself. On the work front, Uzma runs a beauty salon in Brahmpuri, north-east Delhi, and named it after her daughter, Falak.
What do you think about Uzma Ahmed’s life and its depiction in The Diplomat?
Next Read: Sadia Khateeb Of ‘The Diplomat’ Talks About Her Character ‘Uzma’: ‘Got Emotionally Attached To Her’