TIMTOWTDI
I'd change my $ast = $_ =~ s/\*/$&/g; to my $ast = tr/*//;, and do similarly for the $hah variable. Or, leaving the default variable intact, my $ast = tr/*/*/;. To each their own.

Of course, the code doesn't "filter out lines with *'s and #'s" -- it prints a line of asterisks with the line number, and then prints the number of asterisks and number of hashes. I take it you simply intended to give the OP some code to work on without giving everything, while pointing out the question should have indicated some effort on his part.