Borat

Borat Sagdiyev (Assumed Cyrillic: ????? ???????) is a fictional Kazakhstani media figure, created as satire and played by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. He is featured in each episode of Da Ali G Show, doing satirical interviews with various people who apparently do not realize the show is fake. He has visited Britain and the USA. The character's supposed Kazakh origins are purely a plot device; the near-total lack of knowledge of the country among westerners enables the show's writers to create outrageous dialogue while preserving a semblance of credibility with the interviewee.

Behind the scenes

• The Borat character is based on a doctor that Sacha Baron Cohen met in southern Russia.
• Borat's suit has never been washed.
• Some women find Borat attractive and ask for dates after filming.
• Sacha writes his notes in Hebrew on his clipboard so they "look foreign".
• The hair and mustache are Sacha's real hair and moustache. It takes him six weeks to grow his moustache.
• Using occasional Polish words has nearly had Borat exposed as a fake mid-filming.
• Borat's predecessor is a hapless Albanian reporter named Cristo.