Sacha Baron Cohen has been spotted hard at work on the set of his latest cinematic offering, The Dictator, on the streets of Manhattan.

The Dictator has been described as "the heroic story of a dictator who risks his life to ensure that democracy would never come to the country he so lovingly oppressed".

The comedian, whose previous creations Bruno and Borat threw comic harpoons at the fashion industry and, well, basically everything Kazakh, has this time transformed himself into a Saddam Husseinesque figure who has been secretly replaced by a goat-herder and must rebuild his life in New York. Baron Cohen will also play said goat-herder in the film, reported to be inspired by Charlie Chaplin's 1940 epic, The Great Dictator, which poked harsh satire at Nazi Germany.

Baron Cohen caused uproar in Kazakhstan with Borat, and offended many more when, as Bruno, he adopted an African baby, whom he scooped up from the baggage turnstile when he returned to America. So it's probably safe to say that, while cutting a seemingly harmless dash in his hairnet and apron in these photos, the surprisingly reclusive actor will shake a few more feathers when this film makes its debut, scheduled for 2012.

An eclectic supporting cast of Megan Fox, Anna Faris, John C Reilly and Ben Kingsley all make appearances.