Art Malik

Art Malik, born Athar ul-Haque Malik on 13 November 1952 in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, is a British-Pakistani actor who built a career spanning British television, international film, and Broadway. His father, Mazhar ul-Haque Malik, was an ophthalmic surgeon who secured a position at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London, bringing the family to Britain in 1956 when Malik was three years old. He attended Bec School in Tooting from the age of eleven. After an unsatisfactory period studying business and a term at The Questors Theatre, he won a scholarship to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where he met Gina Rowe, whom he married in 1980. Early professional work brought him into contact with The Old Vic and Royal Shakespeare companies.

Malik's breakthrough came in 1984, five years after leaving Guildhall, when Granada Television cast him as Hari Kumar in The Jewel in the Crown, an adaptation of Paul Scott's Raj Quartet. The performance earned him a British Academy Television Award nomination for Best Actor. His film career gained international visibility in 1987 when he portrayed Kamran Shah, an Afghan mujahideen leader who allies with James Bond against Soviet forces, in the 007 film The Living Daylights. In 1992 he appeared in City of Joy as the son of an Indian mobster, and in 1993 he narrated Salman Rushdie's Haroun and the Sea of Stories for the BBC television programme Jackanory.

In 1994, facing fourteen months without work and a debt of £32,000 owed to the Inland Revenue, Malik accepted the role of villain Salim Abu Aziz opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the action comedy True Lies, directed by James Cameron. He described the part as "a hoot." The film's success brought offers for further action roles, which he declined, later stating he did not want to appear in action films of lesser quality. He instead took a lead role as Nirad Das in the premiere production of Tom Stoppard's 1995 play Indian Ink, staged in Guildford and in the West End. In 1999 he played Olympos, court doctor to Cleopatra, in the ABC miniseries Cleopatra.

Malik narrated two documentary projects for British television in the early 2000s: Hajj: The Journey of a Lifetime for BBC Two in 2001 and the three-part series The British Empire in Colour for TWI/Carlton Television in 2002. From 2003 to 2005 he starred as Zubin Khan on the BBC One medical drama Holby City. In 2008, Malik appeared on Broadway in The Seagull. He took on the recurring role of Francesc Gacet in Tom Fontana's historical series Borgia, which ran from 2011 to 2014. Beginning in 2014, he played retired Pakistani general Bunran "Bunny" Latif in season four of Homeland, returning to the role in season eight in 2020. His first appearance in an Indian-produced film came in 2013 with Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, in which he played Milkha Singh's father. Additional television credits include the first series of Bancroft in 2017, series eight of Doc Martin in 2017, and the Doctor Who episode "The Ghost Monument" in 2018.

Malik has spoken publicly about the personal difficulties that followed his sudden success in 1984, including excessive drinking and financial strain that placed pressure on his marriage. He and his wife later reunited. He has been involved in charitable efforts, including fundraising for victims of the 2001 Gujarat earthquake and appearing in the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal advertisement in 2010. He and Gina Rowe have two daughters, Jessica and Keira.