London, Dec 30 (ANI): British comic genius Sacha Baron Cohen is moving from comedy to serious politics, by playing a hippie opponent of the Vietnam war in Steven Spielbergs The Trial of the Chicago Seven.

In the movie, Baron Cohen, who recently announced that he would never reprise his roles as Kazakh journalist Borat and rap star Ali G again, will be playing Abbie Hoffman, a 1960s counterculture figure, who used a series of pranks to crusade against the war.

The 36-year-old star will reportedly be paid about 3m pounds for the film, reports Times Online.

The Trial of the Chicago Seven is based on the protesters who disrupted the 1968 Democrat party meeting with an anti-Vietnam-war carnival that turned vicious.

After the fights, independent investigators held eight police officers and eight protesters including Hoffman, responsible.

Though the police were not charged but the protesters were accused of inciting a riot.

Hoffman went on to become a petulant personality who was later diagnosed with a bipolar disorder, and killed himself with pills in 1989.

Baron Cohen shot to fame in Britain with his Ali G persona in the 1990s, but won international applause with last years film Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. (ANI)

• Sacha Baron Cohen

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