Amid India-Pakistan tensions, The Diplomat, featuring John Abraham, streaming on Netflix, has been making waves among fans. After a successful stint at the box office, The Diplomat was released on Netflix on May 9, 2025. Ever since then, The Diplomat has been among the top of the list of most-watched movies of the week on Netflix. Directed by Shivam Nair, The Diplomat features John Abraham, Sadia Khateeb, Revathy, Kumud Mishra, Sharib Hashmi, and more in key roles. The Diplomat is inspired by the true story of real-life Indian diplomat JP Singh and his efforts in bringing an Indian woman named Uzma Ahmed, trapped in Pakistan, who was deceived into marrying a Pakistani man in 2017.
Since you have landed on this page, True Scoop assumes that you have already watched the movie on Netflix and are wondering about the ISI Chief Malik, who is shown in the movie. Below is all you need to know-
Who was the ISI Chief during the Uzma Ahmed case?
The Diplomat on Netflix has showcased that Pakistan's secret service, ISI's Chief Malik, tried to derail the humanitarian effort of JP Singh to send Uzma back to India. Malik tied to paint typical Pakistani image at first, that Uzma is an Indian Spy. Thereafter, seeing the humanitarian angle, the ISI tried to change the narrative that the Indian High Commission in Islamabad is holding Uzma captive away from her Pakistani husband. Now, the question arises, who was the ISI chief during the Uzma Ahmead case? Continue reading below-
True Scoop tried to dig into the list of ISI Chiefs based on the timeline. Since Uzma returned to India in 2017, in that year, Major-General Faiz Hameed, as head of the ISI (Counter Intelligence Wing), better known as DG-C, from 2017 to 2019. Later as Lieutenant General Hameed served as Director-General of Inter-Services Intelligence (DG-ISI) from June 2019 to 6 October 2021. There are reports that Muhammad Asim Malik, who is currently serving as the Director General of Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) was part of ISI. However, True Scoop cannot verify this.
Actor Ashwath Bhatt has played the character of Malik in the movie The Diplomat. Continue reading below to know who played what in the movie-
The Diplomat Characters Guide
John Abraham plays J.P. Singh, Sadia Khateeb as Uzma Ahmed, Kumud Mishra as Advocate N.M. Sayyed, Sharib Hashmi as Tiwari, Revathy as Union External Affairs Minister (Character based on Sushma Swaraj), Ashwath Bhatt as Malik (ISI DG), Jagjeet Sandhu as Tahir Ali (Uzma's Pakistani-origin husband), etc.