Introducing...Madame Nawazish Ali!

Pakistan's answer to Dame Edna is queen of the late night TV



Pakistan’s conservative landscape has embraced a shockingly progressive late night TV show, hosted by drag queen Begum (meaning Madame) Nawazish Ali.

The remarkably classy character (a drag Shilpa?), glamorous aristocrat widow of an army colonel, Begum Nawazish Ali has gained notoriety through scandelous monologues and an assertive way of interacting with her guests, who include top-notch Pakistani celebrities and politicians,

Played by actor 28-year-old Ali Saleem, the risqué entertainment has quickly become the most popular TV late night show in the Muslim country.

"Some people compare her to Dame Edna's character on British television," Saleem told NBC’s Worldblog, "but Begum Nawazish Ali is much too sophisticated to ever be that crude."

If she’s not crude, she’s certainly suggestive as the character has raised eyebrows for the way she invasively questions and flirts with her male guests – not exactly your archetypal behaviour from a good Muslim woman.

However, even the country’s religious leaders have appeared undisturbed, and even amused by the drag queen’s natural manner.

"We couldn't convince [head of a Muslim political party] Qazi Hussain Ahmed to come on the show," said Saleem. "But he was very good-natured about it. He praised the Begum and said he would rather just watch the show on television."

Ali even nonchalantly addressed his sexuality in the interview, another shocking confession for a public figure in Pakistan – or better yet, a shocking confession of any public figure.

"I am happy to openly accept my bisexuality because it does justice to the man in me and the woman in me," says Ali. He also said Begum has "only received love, adoration and respect, never anything evenly remotely negative."

Clearly empowered, Ali told worldblog "I want to be the voice of the youth and for all of Pakistan. The idea was always to break barriers and preconceived notions, of gender, identity, celebrity and politics and to bring people closer. In any case, I think Begum Nawazish Ali is the strongest woman in Pakistan!"

Click here to watch an exerpt from the show, where Begum interviews a panel of guests discussing Lollywood, Pakistan's second-rate, Bollywood-aspiring film industry