Azamat Bagatov

Azamat Bagatov is a satirical character invented by English comedian Sacha Baron Cohen. Played by Ken Davitian, he is a Kazakh producer and is a character in the film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. He works in a guesthouse now.

The film's comedic aspect is from the use of extreme social and cultural viewpoints and vulgar language and behavior. Entertainment Weekly gave it high reviews, saying, "The Kazakhstani journalist gave us some of the most incisive cultural commentary ever filmed. That, and a wrestling match between butt-naked men. Something for everyone."^[1]

Fictional character biography

Not much is known about Azamat Bagatov other than the fact that he is the producer for Borat in his cross country attempt to learn more about the United States of America. He is married to Lindi; she is dead.^[2]

It is also known that the character hates Jews and blames them for 9/11. He refuses to fly anywhere for this reason.

Borat film

The film Borat is a comedy based on the (mostly) unscripted actions and reactions to the character Borat as he travels across America to try and wed Pamela Anderson. Most of those appearing in the film are not paid performers, but real people whom Borat met on his journey.^[3] The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox, and directed by Larry Charles. It premiered at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, and was released across Europe on 2 November 2006 and North America on 3 November 2006.

In the film, Borat commits cultural solecisms and exposes a few American ones. Over the course of the film, Borat falls in love with Pamela Anderson after watching a rerun of Baywatch, and vows to make her his wife. Azamat travels with Borat as they rent a van to drive across the country to try and wed her.

The film opened at #1 in the U.S., taking in $26.4 million on a limited release of 837 screens during its first weekend, beating Fahrenheit 9/11 as the biggest opening weekend for a film released in fewer than 1,000 cinemas. Baron Cohen celebrated the release of the film with a host of promotional in-character interviews.^[4] The film expanded its release on the second weekend to 2,566 screens, where it took in an additional $29 million.^[5]

In 2007, Baron Cohen won a Golden Globe for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy". With a production budget of $18,000,000 the film has grossed $128,501,044 in the United States of America and another $128,848,505 internationally, for a worldwide gross of $257,349,549 by mid-March 2007.^[6]

References