I was paid Rs. 1000 per episode and Rs. 100 towards travelling, says Ali Asgar

Actor Ali Asgar needs no introduction After debuting in showbiz with the teenage detective show lsquoEk Do Teen Chaarrsquo he went onto do an array of serials and films His lsquoDadirsquo and lsquoNanirsquo act in lsquoThe Kapil Sharma Showrsquo gained him admirers from all overThis week MidDay Online met Ali Asgar for an exclusive interview wherein he spoke about why he decided to stay back in India despite having a high paying job offer abroad his equation with Kapil Sharma and whether he will make a comeback in Kapilrsquos showYou started acting when you were around 15 years old Were you successful in managing studies as well as actingTo a large extent yes I was in my tenth standard when I started working in the serial called lsquoEk Do teen Chaarrsquo There were two other costars with me who also were in school Our schedules were matched in such a way that none of us missed our schools The showrsquos makers also ensured that we never worked during our examsWhat was your first pay check I was paid Rs 1000 per episode and Rs 100 towards travelling How did you spend the moneyMy father used to handle my income Whatever money I used to get it used to be in my fatherrsquos account Times have changed and how In todayrsquos time and age children ask for their account number and password the moment they are born smilesIs there anything that you want to tell our readers who have grown up watching your detective series lsquoEk Do Teen ChaarrsquoAll that I want to tell is that whatever I am it is purely because of your love and affection I am grateful to each one of you wholeheartedlyAlso ReadVisually impaired KBC 14 contestant is a fan of Big Bs BlackIs it true that since your parents did not let you go abroad despite having a lucrative job offerYes I had a job offer to work in an oil rig in Texas It was a very high paying job They wanted me to sign a bond of minimum 5 years Even though I was very excited for the job my parents were reluctant to send me away for five years as they wanted me to stay in India and work hereThere was a FIR which was filed against you regarding one of your acts in lsquoThe Kapil Sharma Showrsquo What has that whole episode taught you Have you become doubly careful about the kind of roles you play your oneliners and dialoguesOf course yes I wasnrsquot alone in that there were a couple of others as well Initially the channel did not intervene but on a later stage the channel intervened as well and took over and somehow the whole matter got settled The whole episode definitely taught me a lotIs it true that you have acted in a comedy serial produced by Dilip Kumar and Saira Banu titled lsquoAllah Meri Taubarsquo on Urdu ETVhellipA bit stunned Yes I cannot tell you in words how gratified it is to even talk about that experience Meri poori zindagi ka kaam ek taraf aur yeh ek show ek taraf My father always used to consider Dilip Saab Motilal ji and Balraj Sahni ji as lsquotestimonialsrsquo of superlative acting Not just me my entire family have been great fans of Dilip saab And for me to work in a production of Dilip saab was nothing less than divine We used to shoot in Dilip saabrsquos bungalow only Whenever he used to come down from stairs all that I used to do was to stare at him awestruck I used to see his hand movements his grace his poise his mannerismshellip everything about him His mere smile was so soothingWhat was your fatherrsquos reaction when he came to know about your acting in Dilip saabrsquos productionMy father was extremely happy My father told me to work with all my heart and soul in the serial and allot all the dates asked to me He also told me not to discuss money at all All of this because it was a prestigious Dilip Kumar saabrsquos productionYour character of lsquodadirsquo was totally synonymous with lsquopappisrsquo galore Were there any guestss reluctant about this actNot at all To tell you an incident when we were shooting for lsquoComedy Nights With Kapilrsquo the legendary Amitabh Bachchan had come for the film promotions of lsquoBhoothnathrsquo At that time we had got a list of dos and donts from his team And the list of lsquodonrsquotsrsquo was totally for me only laughs heartily After reading the list our entire team was like if this has to be considered then there wonrsquot be any entry of Dadi as she was known for all of those things Thatrsquos when we decided to tone down the whole act But when I made an entry on stagehellip Bachchan saab supported me and my character in the show And just as when I realized that the mood was lightening up I in the character of dadi casually spoke to Bachchan saab and told him ldquoSir you know that mujhse bachke koi nahi gaya hai iss manch pe Aur ye budhiya aapse bheeek maangti haihellip toh please mujhe woh de do warna mera saara glamour utar jaayegardquo Thatrsquos when Bachchan saab kissed me the character of dadi Thatrsquos the greatness of Amitabh Bachchan who not just lifted my character but also did not let my character of dadi go astrayWhen people offer only womanrsquos roles to you does the artist inside you feel irritated or angryHundred percent it does I feel sad many times Even though there has been good money offered I have refused many roles because all of them centered around the same old stereotypeIs there anything that you want to tell the directors who refuse to see you beyond the character and mannerisms of DadiI appeal and request with gratitude to consider me for meaningful characters as well Even if I am offered four scenes I will still be happy doing ithellip provided there is meaning in the role The length of the role is not important All I need and ask for is to have substance in my roleWill you do lsquoBigg Bossrsquo if offered to youI cannot see myself in lsquoBigg Bossrsquo because I am not a lsquoBigg Boss materialrsquo At the same time I wont even participate in a singing show because when I sing paani chali jaati hai laughs heartilyLooking back when you had participated in lsquoZara Nachke Dikharsquo your team had staged a walk out in protest against the results What exactly had happened thensmiles Yes we did stage a walkout I was the captain of the team Whatever I remember of that show was that after every round we were always told that lsquoyou guys are really very goodrsquo But despite that more marks were given to the girls team repeatedly Hence walking out was a natural feeling which we did Uss samay jawaani thihellip umar ka taqaaza bhi thahellip Much has been written about your moving out of The Kapil Sharma Show What exactly happened with Kapil SharmaWhen Kapil had called me I was GENUINELY busy And when I had called him he was GENUINELY busy which led to a communication gap between us Amidst all this there were so much of lsquomirch masalarsquo that were being added that the actual subject matter which was supposed to reach Kapil Sharma could not reach him at all He moved onhellip and I also moved on At the same time respect and love for him was there and will always be thereIn case Kapil Sharma calls you to join his show this season will you do soYou never knowhellip smiles I would definitely love to hear from Kapil and meet him There is no enmity between us Whenever he calls me I would love to work with himIn case you say yes to the show will you continue to play the role of nani or dadi in the showI would love to do something new I would like to do something which will be beneficial for the show as well as for mePlay Quiz How well do you know Akshay Kumar