‘Mera baap aurat hai’: Ali Asgar on why he quit playing ‘dadi’ on Kapil Sharma’s show

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Ali said that he would feel bad as he was starting to get repetitive and felt that he had the potential to do more, but wasn’t getting a chance to show it 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’.”

‘I did it for my livelihood’

Ali felt that the makers and writers found it convenient to write drag characters for Ali, and hence, he was slotted in the same role over and over again. “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 recalled that he was not in a position to give an ultimatum and had to do what he was offered. “They would replace me,” he said and added, “I kept doing it all in a flow and didn’t realise it for so long.” Moving forward, Ali shared that he wants to do “something else” now. “If I attempt to do comedy again, I will again be slotted in those drag characters,” he said.

He noted that he doesn’t regret playing drag characters and said, “I have no complaints over it. I have not been doing those for 7-8 years on TV, but I still get so much, so many corporate shows because of that.”

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‘Mera baap aurat hai’

When Maniesh touched upon the fact that Ali’s kids were bullied because of his television appearances, Ali said, “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 appearance on The Lallantop, Ali had opened up about the same. He shared, “During the Comedy Circus phase, when I was cross-dressing for my 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, and they used to air on Saturdays, Sundays and weekdays. They were in primary classes, and other children would make fun of them. Tab mere bete ne mujhe kaha tha ke aapko kuch aur aata nahi hai kya (That’s when my son asked me, can’t you do something else)… It was quite shocking for me.”

DISCLAIMER: This article reflects the personal experiences and professional journey of an actor; the views expressed are the author’s own and intended for entertainment and informational purposes. While the narrative touches upon themes of workplace repetition and childhood bullying, it is a reflective look at the entertainment industry and does not constitute professional psychological or career advice.