The upcoming Bollywood movie of John Abraham, The Diplomat is facing a ban in the Middle East a few days after its release. The ban has been placed concerning the storyline of the movie.
The movie has been barred from release in several Middle Eastern countries including Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. While an official reason for the ban has not been disclosed, industry insiders suggest that the movie’s politically sensitive themes could be the cause.
With the ban, The Diplomat joins a growing list of Indian films being banned in the Middle East due to their sensitive storylines.
Earlier, Salman Khan’s Tiger 3 was barred from release in Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar over concerns about its depiction of Muslim characters. Akshay Kumar’s Skyforce was also banned in several Middle Eastern countries.
The film has been directed by Shivam Nair, and written by Ritesh Shah, the film is based on the real-life events of the Indian diplomat JP Singh’s efforts to reduce Indian national Uzma Ahmed stuck in a forced marriage in Pakistan. The storyline also covers the India-Pakistan diplomatic relations. The Diplomat was released on March 14th, 2025.
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Besides, John Abraham the cast includes talented actors like Sadia Khateeb and Sharib Hashmi. The film is a dramatic thriller. The movie received a positive response from critics and audiences alike.
Earlier in a conversation, John Abraham revealed that the first was earlier rejected by several OTT platforms as ‘not good enough’.
He said, “The loss of faith happens from the studio. So when a studio sees a film it goes and does a round of OTTs, because a studio may want to mitigate the risk by sending it to an OTT channel. Some OTT channels have refused The Diplomat because they didn’t find it great. They didn’t find it good. They rejected the film; they threw it out.”
The actor added, “The best thing about The Diplomat…is expectations of everyone were zero. So, from zero, when you don’t go to a two-three, but you go straight to a 10, people are like, ‘Oh, wow, this is crazy.’ I have people coming and telling me, ‘Does this studio know that they have got the best film in the last ten years under their belt?’ That’s a victory for me.”