Ali Asgar, who has been a popular name on television, reached stardom when he played Daadi – the iconic character in comedian Kapil Sharma’s comedy show, ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’. Now he is all set to put on his dancing shows and feature in ‘Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10’, almost fourteen years after being part of another dance reality show, ‘Zara Nachke Dikha’.

In the initial episodes of ‘JDJ 10’, he will be performing as Daadi and it would not be wrong to say that it was hugely popular among the audience. However, when Ali quit Kapil’s show, it came as a surprise to many.

In an interview with Bombay Times, the artiste-comedian revealed the reason behind it and said, “I wasn’t creatively satisfied, as my character (Naani) wasn’t growing. I had intimated the team about it even before going to Australia (2017). I had a lot to perform as Daadi, which wasn’t the case with Naani’s character. When the time came to renew my contract, I shared my apprehensions with the team and told them that I wasn’t too keen on continuing on the show. Par uss waqt itna raayta phail gaya tha ki kuchh log baat ko uss taraf le gaye aur kuchh doosri taraf. Itna kuchh ho gaya tha ki kya safaai dena aur kya bolna.”

He further cited how the incident between Kapil and Sunil Grover also took place around that time. “Maybe, Kapil didn’t know the reason why I quit the show. It may not have reached him. I can’t cheat as an artist. If I am not happy, how will I entertain the audience? So, it seemed better to leave the show then and if something nice would come up, we could collaborate again,” Ali quipped.

When asked if he feels typecast as an actor who can only do comedy roles, he maintained, “Yes, but then even legendary actors have been typecast. However, whenever they have played a serious character, people have resonated and cried with them. My image as a comedian is so strong that it has become like baggage and people don’t consider me for any other role. Woh mujhe auraton ke libaas ke bahar dekh hi nahi paa rahe (they are not able to see me outside the garb of a woman) and they doubt whether I will be able to play any other character. How do we change this mindset?”

Post quitting ‘The Kapil Sharma Show’, Ali featured in different shows like ‘The Drama Company’, ‘Kanpur Wale Khuranas’ and ‘Akbar Ka Bal Birbal’.