Ali Asgar says he quit playing ‘Dadi’ on Kapil Sharma's show after his kids were bullied in school

Ali Asgar said he realised that he was not getting enough opportunities to show his potential as an actor and was repeating himself on the show.

Actor and comedian Ali Asgar became a household name for his iconic ‘Dadi’ character in Comedy Nights with Kapil. The actor cross-dressed as both Dadi and Nani on the television show and left a lasting impression with the antics and jokes. However, Ali revealed during a recent chat with Maniesh Paul on his podcast that he had to stop playing female characters on-screen after his kids were bullied at school. Ali has two children with his wife, Siddika Asgar: son Nuyaan Asgar and daughter Ada Asgar.

Ali Asgar played Dadi and Nani on The Kapil Sharma Show. 

What Ali said

Maneish said that Ali gained so much popularity for those characters in the show that it backfired on him after a point. Ali agreed and said his kids were bullied because he was playing a female character. He said, “Deewar mein chote Bachchan saab ke haath mein likha tha, ‘Mera baap chor hain’. Mere bete ke haath mein na likha ho, ‘Mera baap aurat hain (In Deewaar, Amitabh Bachchan’s Vijay has ‘My father is a thief’ written on his hand, and I hope no one wrote on my son’s hand, ‘My father is a female)!’”

Ali Asgar and Kapil Sharma from Comedy Nights With Kapil.

‘Takleef bhi hoti hain na phir’

Ali then added that he felt stuck in that phase of his career. He shared, “Sunney waalo ko ye lagega ki, ‘Ye paagal hain! Kyu chhod diya?’ Par uss waqt mujhe ho bhi yahi raha tha ki Saturday, Sunday Comedy Circus karte thhe toh usme do-do act hota tha. Dono act mein main female. Sunday mein bhi female… Toh kya ki waha ek image ho gaya tha, aur writers ko bhi easy tha ki ek ko female karana tha… main puchta bhi tha ki aaj kya karaoge toh woh bolte thhe, ‘Aree wahi, jo aap karte ho!’ Toh woh takleef bhi hoti hain na phir ki mujhe sirf ye nahi karna hain mujhe kuch aur bhi karna hain. Main roz dal-chawal nahi khaunga. Mujhe aaj puri-bhaji bhi chahiye. Karne toh do! Nahi hua toh phir bolna! Phir wahi baat ho gayi ki ye meri rozi-roti bhi hain aur ye medium mere haath mein nahi hain, main hero thode na hoon. Flow mein karte gaye, and awards night hua tha, and jo bhi kiya brilliant tha (Those who are 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 shows, I would play 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. I did not want to do the same thing over and over again but it was not in my hands. Still it was my livelihood, and whatever I did, it was brilliant).”

Ali exited Kapil’s popular comedy show, The Kapil Sharma Show, in 2017. He had cited ‘creative differences’ as the reason.

Ali rose to fame after starring in the popular TV serial Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii. He also appeared in a range of films like Partner (2007), Tees Maar Khan (2010), Judwaa 2 (2017), and Shehzada (2023).