Ali Saleem علی سلیم |
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Born |
Ali Saleem 1979 (age 37–38) Islamabad, Pakistan |
Residence | Karachi, Pakistan |
Other names | Begum Nawazish Ali |
Education | Cadet College, Froebel's International School |
Occupation | Talk show host, comedian, actor |
Years active | 2000 – present |
Known for | Comedy |
Ali Saleem (Urdu: علی سلیم), best known by his alter-ego Begum Nawazish Ali, is a Pakistani television host, actor, scriptwriter and impressionist. He became a contestant in Bigg Boss 4 in 2010. He broke into the mainstream audiences through his impersonations of late prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and later playing the cross-dressing Begum Nawazish Ali on various television channels, including the Aaj TV network, Dawn News and Geo TV network. His alter ego of Begum Nawazish Ali has now become his primary persona as he rarely appears as the male Ali Saleem. He is a bisexual man born to a retired colonel father in Pakistan Army and his wife, a former government official.
Biologically born a male, Ali has sometimes called himself gay, bisexual or at other times even a transsexual.
Born in Islamabad to a colonel in the Pakistan Army. From a young age, he desired and fantasized about being a woman. It was in his teens that he got to do a play for Yasmeen Ismail at the Arts Council clad in a burqa offering the audience with his monologue that people saw his inner lady come out. They would flock him and ask him in disbelief of how a child can impersonate a woman older than his age. Ali now says that because his audience was older than his age then, he felt he matured earlier. Ali took his early life education from Cadet College Hasanabdal,Attock and later went to Froebel's International School for A'level
His breakthrough in the entertainment industry came when he started imitating his childhood heroine, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto, from the way she talked to the way she dressed. So loved were his performances that on the occasion of Zohaib Hassan's dholki, Bhutto herself asked Ali to impersonate her. Zohaib's sister Nazia had warned Ali not imitate the prime minister. But, eventually, when asked he even made the prime minister Benazir Bhutto burst out in laughter and appreciated the performance.