Stop playing woman, son told Ali Asgar

Mumbai: "Jeannie Aur Juju" came as a respite for Ali Asgar, who had enough of playing woman on the small screen. Not only had that, donning the garb of a woman spelled trouble for his school going son too.

Best remembered for playing Kamal in "Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii", he was often seen playing a woman in "Comedy Circus". "It became very monotonous for me to play a girl again and again. I did it in two or three places, and it was very scary to think that the audience may also find it monotonous," he told IANS. "My son used to be teased in school over me dressing up like a girl and he asked me to stop playing such roles," he added. The actor is currently seen in SAB TV`s show "Jeannie Aur Juju" and said: "The show came as a breather for me. There is no vulgarity or double meaning dialogue in the show like it was in `Comedy Circus`. `Comedy Circus` was a competition; therefore, we were often forced to bring in those elements." The fact that "Jeannie Aur Juju" is an Indian adaptation of popular international show "I Dream Of Jeannie" attracted Ali towards it. "`I Dream of Jeannie` is something that both classes and masses have watched before. This gave the show connectivity and acceptance," he said. "Also, the makers of the original show are very happy with our adaptation," he added. Talking about TRP ratings, the actor said: "I would not want these ratings to affect me, but these are the numbers which show how successful the show is." Ali moved to reality shows after finding fiction-based series creatively dissatisfying. "I was not getting good characters to do in TV soaps. All the characters seemed like extensions of my role of Kamal from `Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii`. I was not getting creative satisfaction," he said. Having said that, he admits being content with his career. "I am happy with my career and I feel that god has been very kind to me. I have been working continuously on TV for 27-28 years. If I didn`t get good fiction roles, I did reality shows. I was always creatively occupied and didn`t have the time to sit and sulk," he said. Talking about the advancement in the television industry, Ali said that unfortunately the progress is only in the technical department, not in the content side. "We still have the same content but technically we have advanced a lot. I don`t know why content is not changing... or whether it is because of the audiences` demand or the choice of products we are giving them," he said. IANS