Riya Sharma (BOMBAY TIMES; December 13, 2018)

Comedian Ali Asgar has made waves with his on-screen persona of the flamboyant Dadi on The Kapil Sharma Show for three years. So, it was no surprise that when he was in Delhi recently, fans kept calling him Dadi while trying to get pictures clicked with him. The actor was in the Capital to promote his upcoming show, Kanpur Wale Khuranas, in which he plays Chauthi, again a female character. In a candid chat, Ali tells us how comfortable he is playing a woman on screen and what it has taught him in real life.

‘OFTEN, PEOPLE ARE NOT ABLE TO TELL THAT IT IS ACTUALLY A GUY PLAYING A WOMAN’
Ali has been playing female roles so convincingly, that it has even landed him in trouble in real life. Sharing an incident that happened while he was performing at a Delhi wedding, the actor says, “Wherever I go for such shows, I don’t let the anchor announce my name, I just enter as Dadi. At this event, by the time I entered, people were already drunk. Unhone uske baad jo hamla kiya hai mere upar — they were putting their hands on my chest, they were pinching my butt, I was molested! There is a girl in my team, and she managed to save me, warna main nikal nahi pa raha tha. Mera tab yeh question tha, ki bhai aapko pata bhi hai ki ye ek aadmi hai jo aurat ka role kar raha hai? And the second question was — even if you don’t know, ye toh ek buddhi aurat hai na, usko toh chhor do!”

However, not all experiences of him being mistaken for a woman have been so scarring. “When we were shooting for The Drama Company, Jacqueline Fernandez had come for one episode. During the shoot, Jacqueline, Sugandha (Mishra), another female artiste and I were dancing, and Jacqueline ka mic nikal gaya. Despite there being two other girls with us, she asked me, ‘Can you please put the mic back for me?’ So I said, ‘I am a guy’, and the whole audience started laughing,” he shares, adding, “Quite often, people are not able to tell that it is actually a guy playing a woman. I don’t know if that is a compliment.”

While for his fans, Ali plays a woman convincingly, the actor says that he wants to try new things also now. “I am comfortable playing a female character, but as a performer, I try to balance ki main yeh bhi karun, lekin kuch aur bhi karun. I recently got an offer from a production house that surprised me. I won’t name the production house, but I was excited that I would get to play a different kind of role. But in the first meeting itself, they told me that they want me to play a ‘dadi’. They said that in the film, I won’t be a man dressed as a woman, instead, I would actually be a ‘dadi’, a female character. So I thought, ‘Boss, yeh toh zyada ho gaya. Kya ab main male role nahi kar paunga?’ I also have two-three films lined up which are different characters, so I convince myself saying that it is ultimately Ali Asgar who is doing these roles,” he says.

‘THIS SHOW IS LIKE A REUNION FOR US’
Talking about his upcoming show, Ali goes into Chauthi-mode and introduces ‘herself ’ as though she has mugged it up like a student before exams. “I am very good in academics because I have failed my class IV almost 30 times. Galti meri nahi hai, galti school waalon ki hai. Main roz school jati hoon, bas exam wale din nahi jaati toh fail kar dete hain,” says Ali, in his Chauthi voice.

He tells us that it is like a reunion on the sets of the show as the cast of The Drama Company, and other comedy shows, has come together — including Sunil Grover, Upasna Singh and Sugandha Mishra — along with new characters. “This show is like a reunion for us. After The Drama Company and other shows, we are all back together. Aisa lag raha hai aaj se school shuru ho gaya hai. Woh excitement hai ki hum ek nayi class mein ja rahe hain.”

‘NO RIVALRY WITH KAPIL SHARMA’S SHOW’
Though Ali accepts that it is not possible for fans to forget Dadi altogether, he is still trying to experiment with new things for Chauthi. “It will be very difficult to erase Dadi from someone’s memory. Wherever I go, people recognise me as her, toh woh obvious hai ki agar female characters banenge toh woh comparison aayega. But this one will be different from other female characters that I have played so far. It is our duty to try new things, and we will add new things gradually on the show.,” shares Ali.

Kapil Sharma also recently announced his return with a new season of his show and since Ali Asgar, Sunil Grover and Upasana Singh — its previous cast members — are no longer a part of it, we ask Ali if he is wary of comparisons between the two shows? “It is healthy, logon ke liye bhi achha hai ki unhe do jagah se entertainment milega. Frankly, I am not even thinking about the comparisons. We all are professionals and there is no rivalry, woh thoda hype ho jata hai. It is fine, certain things did not work out, but there is no bad vibe. Humari koi Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak wali dushmani nahi hai,” says Ali. When we ask him if an off-screen reunion of the original cast of The Kapil Sharma Show will happen anytime soon, he replies, “Off-screen reunion hota toh achha hota, par ab nahi hua toh the show must go on.”