AR Rahman to Ali Asgar: No touching!

It takes a lot of effort and persuasion to actually get the reclusive AR Rahman on a television show. He is known to be extremely shy of public interactions. What transpired on The Kapil Sharma Show this Sunday was shocking, to say the least. A visibly uncomfortable Rahman walked on to the sets only to be bombarded by the usual cheesy comedy that is inflicted on all guests.

Ali Asgar walked in, dressed as a Lucknowi begum, who did a seduction act on ARR, heaving bosom, lip-biting and all. The music maestro looked hugely embarrassed and then alarmed as Asgar got more and more aggressive and sexual because, in Asgar’s words, he wanted to quell some of Rahman’s shyness. Things got so heated, Rahman actually had to warn the comedian, “No touching!”

Asgar, of course, being a dedicated  comedian continued to slither and slide around Rahman whose ordeal didn’t end with Asgar’s seduction act. Thereafter another comic actor Sugandha Mishra stormed in and did a loud mash-up of AR Rahman’s tracks.

The experience has left Rahman shaken. Says a friend of  his, “You can fool around with the Great Grand Masti team. But you can’t apply the same  humour to Rahman. As a host, Kapil Sharma had not even done his  basic homework. He said Rangeela was the maestro’s first composition and that he had scored music in all of Ashutosh Gowariker’s films. Both are misrepresentations of facts. It was insulting to see Ali  do his drag act on Rahman. It is doubtful we’ll get to see him on another television show in the near future.”

When contacted, Ali maintained “I agree there’s a difference between Rahman and other guests. But he was just uncomfortable with anyone touching him. Otherwise he enjoyed himself. A lot of the footage was edited. This Begum is an incorrigible flirt. She flirts with everyone. And the bigger the celebrity, the more flirtatious she gets.”