Ali Asgar opens up on quitting ‘Dadi’ role on The Kapil Sharma Show; 'Mera baap aurat hai’

Ali Asgar has been part of various TV shows and films during his 40 years career. However, his comic character of ‘Dadi’ on The Kapil Sharma Show gained him massive fame. The actor, who has done successful comic roles in shows like Comedy Circus, Comedy Nights with Kapil, and The Kapil Sharma Show, recently opened up about facing a difficult time in his personal life due to his drag characters. In a podcast with Maniesh Paul on his YouTube channel, Ali shared that his children were bullied at school because of the female characters he played on television.

Ali shared, “I realised at that point that this is all that I am doing. Those watching this might say, ‘Is he mad? Why did he leave it?’ But at that time, Comedy Circus would air on Saturday and Sunday, and in both acts, I would be playing a female character. So I was starting to get that image. For the writers also, it was easy and they would keep writing female characters for me over and over again."

He went on to share his pain of getting repetitive roles and mentioned how he knew he could do much more but wasn’t getting the right opportunities to show his talent on screen. “Sometimes, you feel bad and think that this is not all that I want to do. I want to do more,” he said and added, “I would say, ‘Give me a chance. Let me try, at least. If it doesn’t land, then tell me’,” he said.

“Because you are thinking of your convenience and not thinking that I have to do it over and over again. I also kept doing it because I needed work, this is my livelihood. You have to think about all of that,” he said.

Ali also spoke about getting typecast in drag roles as the makers and writers found it convenient to write such roles for him, sharing, "Because you are thinking of your convenience and not thinking that I have to do it over and over again. I also kept doing it because I needed work, this is my livelihood. You have to think about all of that."

Ali Asgar shared that he couldn’t make demands and had to accept the work that came his way. "They would replace me. I kept doing it all in a flow and didn’t realise it for so long. If I attempt to do comedy again, I will again be slotted in those drag characters.”

The Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki actor mentioned he doesn't regret the characters he played, saying, “I have no complaints over it. I have not been doing those for 7-8 years on TV, but I still get so many corporate shows because of that.”

Further in the interview, when Maniesh Paul mentioned that Ali’s children were bullied because of his TV roles, Ali Asgar responded, “Because we work in films, we can say.. like in Deewaar, Amitabh Bachchan’s Vijay has ‘Mera baap chor hai’ on his arm, no one wrote on my son’s arm ‘Mera baap aurat hai’ (laughs).”



In an earlier interview with Lallantop, Ali Asgar spoke about his kids facing bullying in school, "During the Comedy Circus phase, when I was doing cross-dressing performances, my kids got bullied in school. That’s when I decided to take a break and I was at home for 9 months as I kept refusing the female characters. We used to shoot four acts that aired Saturday and Sunday, and weekdays I used to perform at events in the same cross-dressing roles. They were young and in primary class, so other kids used to make fun of them. Tab mere bete ne mujhe kaha tha ke aapko kuch aur aata nahi hai kya? I felt before others start asking me, I better stop doing these roles. It was quite shocking for me. But God was kind and I got Jeannie Juju." Ali Asgar is known for his iconic comic roles, especially the one on The Kapil Sharma Show. On the work front, Ali is best known for his portrayal of 'Dadi' in The Kapil Sharma Show.