Athar ul-Haque Malik (Urdu:اطہر الحق ملک; born 13 November 1952), known asArt Malik, is aBritish-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 serialThe Jewel in the Crown (1984), which earned him aBritish Academy Television Award nomination forBest Actor.

Malik starred asZubin Khan on theBBC One medical dramaHolby City (2003–2005), Francesc Gacet onBorgia (2011–2014), and Bunny Latif onHomeland (2014–2020). He is also well-known for his roles as Kamran Shah in theJames Bond filmThe Living Daylights (1987) and the villain Salim Abu Aziz in the action comedy filmTrue Lies (1994).

Malik was born Athar ul-Haque Malik on 13 November 1952 inBahawalpur,Pakistan, the son of Zaibunisa and Mazhar ul-Haque Malik, a doctor who worked as anophthalmic surgeon in Britain.^[1] When his father got a job as a surgeon inMoorfields Eye Hospital, Malik was brought toLondon in 1956, aged three. From the age of eleven, he attendedBec School inTooting.^{[2][failed verification]}

Following an unsatisfactory stint of business studies and a term studying acting atThe Questors Theatre, he won a scholarship toGuildhall School of Music and Drama.^[2][3] Before long, he was working withThe Old Vic andRoyal Shakespeare companies.^[2]

In 1982, five years after leaving Guildhall, Malik was cast as Hari Kumar in theGranada Television production ofThe Jewel in the Crown, based onPaul Scott'sRaj Quartet.^[2]

In 1987, he played Kamran Shah, anAfghan mujahideen leader who allies withJames Bond and leads a raid against Soviet invaders in the 007 filmThe Living Daylights.

Malik played the role of the son of an Indian mobster in the 1992 filmCity of Joy and, in 1993, narratedSalman Rushdie'sHaroun and the Sea of Stories on BBC television'sJackanory.^[4]

In 1994, Malik played his first big screen villain, Salim Abu Aziz, a stereotypical Islamist, oppositeArnold Schwarzenegger inTrue 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 theInland Revenue for £32,000.^[2] Following his appearance inTrue Lies, Malik was offered several roles in other action films, but turned them down, later explaining, "I didn't want to do action movies that weren't as good."^[2] He instead accepted a role in the filmClockwork Mice.^[2] Malik took a lead role of Nirad Das in the premiere in Guildford andWest End production ofTom Stoppard's 1995 playIndian Ink.^[2]

In 1999, Malik played the supporting role of Olympos, the court doctor to Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, in the ABC miniseriesCleopatra.^[5]

In 2001, he narrated the television documentaryHajj: The Journey of a Lifetime for broadcast on BBC Two and in 2002 he narrated the three part television mini-seriesThe British Empire in Colour for TWI/Carlton Television.^[6][7][8]

He also played Milkha Singh's father in the 2013 Hindi language filmBhaag Milkha Bhaag, his first appearance in a film produced in India.^[9] Malik had a starring role inTom Fontana's historical television seriesBorgia, which ran from 2011 to 2014.^[10]

In 2014, Malik played Bunran "Bunny" Latif, a retired Pakistani general in season four ofHomeland, returning in the same role in season eight in 2020.^[11]

In 2017 he appeared in the first series ofBancroft.

Malik appeared in the second episodes of both series 8 of the showDoc Martin in 2017 andseries 11 ofDoctor Who, "The Ghost Monument" in 2018.^[12]

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".^[3] The result was a strain on his marriage, leading to his wife leaving him. He also ran up high bills on his credit card, and by 1993 he owed £55,000 to the bank and £32,000 to the Inland Revenue, and was on the verge of being declared bankrupt when he got the lucrative part of Salim Abu Aziz, a terrorist, inJames Cameron'sTrue Lies.^[3] He and his wife reunited.^[13]

Malik played a big role in fundraising for relief work for victims of theGujarat earthquake in 2001, and also appeared on theDEC 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 onHolby 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".^[3]

• Art Malik atIMDb
• Art Malik at theBFI'sScreenonline
• Portraits of Art Malik at theNational Portrait Gallery, London

• 1952 births
• Living people
• 20th-century English male actors
• 21st-century English male actors
• Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
• British actors of Pakistani descent
• English male film actors
• English male stage actors
• English male television actors
• English people of Pakistani descent
• Male actors from London
• Naturalised citizens of the United Kingdom
• Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom
• People from Bahawalpur
• Royal Shakespeare Company members

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from February 2021
• Use British English from November 2012
• All Wikipedia articles written in British English
• Articles with hCards
• Articles containing Urdu-language text
• All articles with failed verification
• Articles with failed verification from June 2025
• National Portrait Gallery (London) person ID same as Wikidata