Art Malik

Athar ul-Haque Malik (; born 13 November 1952), known as Art Malik, is a British-Pakistani actor. He achieved international fame in the 1980s through his starring and supporting roles in assorted British television serials and films. His breakout role was as Hari Kumar in the television serial The Jewel in the Crown, which earned him a British Academy Television Award nomination for Best Actor.

Malik starred as Zubin Khan on the BBC One medical drama Holby City (2003–2005), Francesc Gacet on Borgia (2011–2014), and Bunny Latif on Homeland (2014–2020). He is also well-known for his roles as Kamran Shah in the James Bond film The Living Daylights (1987) and the villain Salim Abu Aziz in the action comedy film True Lies (1994).

Early life and education Malik was born Athar ul-Haque Malik on 13 November 1952 in Bahawalpur, Pakistan, the son of Zaibunisa and Mazhar ul-Haque Malik, a doctor who worked as an ophthalmic surgeon in Britain. When his father got a job as a surgeon in Moorfields Eye Hospital, Malik was brought to London in 1956, aged three. From the age of eleven, he attended Bec School in Tooting.

Following an unsatisfactory stint of business studies and a term studying acting at The Questors Theatre, he won a scholarship to Guildhall School of Music and Drama. Before long, he was working with The Old Vic and Royal Shakespeare companies.

In 1994, Malik played his first big screen villain, Salim Abu Aziz, a stereotypical Islamist, opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in True Lies. Malik accepted the role, which he described as "a hoot", at a time when he had been 14 months without work and was being pursued by the Inland Revenue for £32,000.

In 2001, he narrated the television documentary Hajj: The Journey of a Lifetime for broadcast on BBC Two and in 2002 he narrated the three part television mini-series The British Empire in Colour for TWI/Carlton Television.

He also played Milkha Singh's father in the 2013 Hindi language film Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, his first appearance in a film produced in India. Malik had a starring role in Tom Fontana's historical television series Borgia, which ran from 2011 to 2014.

In 2014, Malik played Bunran "Bunny" Latif, a retired Pakistani general in season four of Homeland, returning in the same role in season eight in 2020.

In 2017 he appeared in the first series of Bancroft.

Malik appeared in the second episodes of both series 8 of the show Doc Martin in 2017 and series 11 of Doctor Who, "The Ghost Monument" in 2018.

Personal life By Malik's account, the sudden success he enjoyed in 1984 resulted in his excessive drinking. "I was surrounded by people who admired me and I took all of that home with me" he said when interviewed in 2003. "I paid lots of attention to my ego, and not enough to my spirit. It was totally unhealthy, like an illness".

Malik played a big role in fundraising for relief work for victims of the Gujarat earthquake in 2001, and also appeared on the DEC Pakistan Floods Appeal advertisement in 2010. He lives with his wife Gina Rowe, a fellow student at the Guildhall, whom he married in 1980. They have two daughters, Jessica and Keira. Although from a Muslim background, and having insisted that his character on Holby City should be a Muslim, Malik describes himself as "not a practising Muslim. I'm probably an apostate, and liable for any right-minded Muslim fundamentalist to put me on a list of people to stamp out". 2024 The Glassworker Tomas Oliver

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