Vir Das

Vir Das
Das at the 2024 Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Born (1979-05-31) 31 May 1979 (age 45)
Dehradun, Uttar Pradesh (now in Uttarakhand), India
Alma materKnox College (Illinois) (BS Economics and Theatre)
Moscow Art Theatre - Harvard University (Stanislavsky Program)
Occupations
Years active2005–present
Spouse
Shivani Mathur
​
(m. 2014)​
Websitewww.virdas.in

Vir Das (born 31 May 1979) is an Indian comedian, actor and musician [1] After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to Hindi cinema starring in films like Badmaash Company (2010), Delhi Belly (2011), and Go Goa Gone (2013) in supporting roles.[2] In 2017, he performed the Netflix special Abroad Understanding.[3] Das has appeared in approximately 35 plays, over 100 stand-up comedy shows, 18 films, eight TV shows and six comedy specials. He has written comedic columns for Femina, Maxim, Exotica, DNA and Tehelka. In 2019, he made his debut in American television with the television series, Whiskey Cavalier. He won the 2023 International Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series for the Netflix comedy special Vir Das: Landing.[4]

Personal life

Vir Das was born to Ranu Das and Madhur Das in Dehradun on 31 May 1979.[5][6][7] He was raised in Nigeria and India. In Nigeria, he attended the Indian Language School in Lagos, Nigeria. In India, he attended The Lawrence School, Sanawar and Delhi Public School, Noida.[6] After 18 months at Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi he went to the United States.[6][8] There he obtained a bachelor's degree from Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois in Economics and Theatre with a concentration in performance.[6] After graduating from Knox, Das was accepted into the Harvard University's and Moscow Arts Theatre for their joint Stanislavsky Program.[9] He has a sister Trisha, who is four years elder to him and is a published author and a documentary filmmaker.[7] He has claimed in one of his shows that his grandfather was a Padma Shri awardee from Bengal.[10] He married his girlfriend after five years of relationship, Shivani Mathur, in October 2014.[11][12]

Controversies

Vir Das Two Indias

In November 2021, Das performed a comedy monologue at the Kennedy Center called "Two Indias". He contrasted India's rich vs. poor, criticised politicians and democratic backsliding, and noted divisions over Bollywood films and cricket teams. On the topic of women, he remarked: "I come from an India where we worship women during the day and gang-rape them at night." The performance received a standing ovation,[13] but Indian politicians filed seven police complaints against Das, including for insulting India on foreign soil.[14]

Vir Das, Netflix

In November 2022, Mumbai police issued an FIR against Vir Das and two other persons and online streaming platform Netflix on charges of copyright rules violation,[15] following a complaint by noted theatre producer Ashvin Gidwani of AGP World that Das re-used material from his previous show in his Netflix special.[16]

Career

He began his career with a gig at one of the premier hotels in New Delhi with a performance titled "Walking on Broken Das".[8]

Das started his career on TV when he hosted two TV shows on Zoom. The first one was Is Route Ki Sabhin Linein Maast Hain where he was an agony uncle. The second was his own stand-up comedy late night show Ek Rahin Vir. Das also hosted Top Drive - Getaway for Star World.

Das has appeared on a variety of comedic television programs. He hosted Cricket Firsts, a sports comedy show on Zee Sports (now TEN Action+). He did improvisational comedy on SAB TV's Lo Kar Lo Baat. He was an addition to the cast of The Great Indian Comedy Show on STAR One. He can be seen anchoring Now Not Showing on CNN-IBN.

Das is the host of News on the Loose, his own news comedy show on CNBC-TV18. News on the Loose was given its own weekly half-hour special News On The Loose — Weekend on CNBC-TV18.

Das was cast as the comic relief in The Curse of King Tut's Tomb, a Hallmark mini-series filmed in India. He began filming for his first two Bollywood roles in early 2006. He played a small role Vipul Shah's 2007 movie Namastey London.

Vir Das has also worked with Ashvin Gidwani Productions-AGP on stand-up shows like Walking on Broken Das, Battle of Da Sexes, and History of India: VIRitten, which he wrote and directed.[17]

He performed at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2011,[18] 2022[19] and 2024.

On 25 April 2017, Das's Netflix special Abroad Understanding was released, in the process becoming the first Indian comedian with a comedy special on the platform.[20]

In June 2017 Das was named one of Variety's "10 Comics to Watch for 2017."[21]

In December 2018, Das released his second Netflix comedy special, entitled Losing It.[22]

In 2019, Das released his travel-cum-comedy show Jestination Unknown where he explores how Indians see humour along with a couple of other stand-up comedians and celebrities.[23]

He starred opposite Preity Zinta in a Fresh Off the Boat episode titled "The Magic Motor Inn".[24] He plays the patriarch of an Indian family. Das's onscreen family will be at the center of the plot of the official spin-off of the same show.[24] However, the show was not picked up by networks.

During the lockdown in 2020 he was on Netflix in a one-hour special called Vir Das: Outside In.[25]

On 12 November 2021, Das performed a monologue titled "Two Indias" at the Kennedy Center in Washington.[26][27][28][29][30]

On 29 January 2023, Das appeared on the Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend podcast and discussed faking appendicitis as a child, the first laugh he ever got on stage, the controversy over his "Two Indias" monologue, and his new special Vir Das: Landing.[31][32]

He hosted the 52nd International Emmy Awards in 2024.[33]

Filmography

Film

Year Film Role Notes
2007 Namastey London Prospective Groom No. 2 Guest appearance
Mumbai Salsa Rajeev
2009 Love Aaj Kal Shonty
2010 Badmaash Company Chandu
2011 Delhi Belly Arup Nominated - Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor
2013 Go Goa Gone Luv
Sooper Se Ooper Ranvir
2014 Shaadi Ke Side Effects Manav
Revolver Rani Rohan Kapoor
Amit Sahni Ki List Amit Sahni
2016 Mastizaade Aditya Chotia
Santa Banta Banta
31st October Devender Singh
Raakh Protagonist
Shivaay Wahab
2017 Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi Monty Tondon
2022 The Bubble Ronjon Hollywood movie debut

Television

Year Show Role Notes
2006 The Curse of King Tut's Tomb Jabari
2008 Mumbai Calling Call Centre Operator Seven episodes
2017 Conan (talk show) Guest
2019 Whiskey Cavalier Jai Datta Main Cast
Koffee with Karan Himself Episode: Koffee Awards 2019
2020 Fresh Off the Boat DC Episode: "The Magic Motor Inn"[34]

Web

Year Name Platform Notes
2014 Canvas Laugh Factory YouTube
2017 Abroad Understanding[35] Netflix Stand-up special
2018 Losing It Netflix Stand-up special
2019 Jestination Unknown Amazon Prime Video Comedy series
2020 Hasmukh Netflix Writer and an actor
For India Netflix Stand-up special
Vir Das: Inside Out Virdas.in Stand-up special
Vir Das: Outside In Netflix Stand-up special
2022 Vir Das: Landing Netflix Stand-up special
2024 Call Me Bae Amazon Prime Video Actor [36]

See also

References

  1. ^ Marshall, Alex (24 August 2022). "They're Comedy Stars at Home. At Edinburgh Fringe, They're Nobodies". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 4 August 2024.
  2. ^ Pereira, Priyanka (16 November 2016). "Vir Das: No Laughing Matter". Open The Magazine. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  3. ^ Kozell, Isaac (25 April 2017). "Vir Das Has an 'Abroad Understanding'". Vulture. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  4. ^ "International Emmy Awards 2023: Netflix's 'Vir Das Landing' wins Best Comedy". India Today. 21 November 2023. Retrieved 21 November 2023.
  5. ^ Mathur, Yashika (31 May 2017). "Happy birthday Vir Das: Celebration's going to be all about family and ghar ka khana". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
  6. ^ a b c d Gupta, Priya (12 February 2014). "My mother tells me not to say 'penis' on stage: Vir Das". The Times of India. Retrieved 1 March 2014.
  7. ^ a b Myers, Marc (26 February 2019). "Vir Das Made His Way From India to American TV via National Lampoon". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  8. ^ a b Zaman, Rana Siddiqui (16 October 2009). "Out Standing". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  9. ^ "Humour and Society, with Vir Das". Asia Society. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  10. ^ "Where my Bengalis at?", YouTube, retrieved 6 August 2022
  11. ^ Shah, Jigar (21 January 2015). "I'm called an actor, not a comic: Vir Das". The Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 23 January 2015. Retrieved 29 January 2015.
  12. ^ Chatterjee, Suprateek (29 April 2017). "Review: Vir Das' 'Abroad Understanding' Is A Hit-And-Miss Affair". The Quint. Archived from the original on 26 August 2017. Retrieved 12 June 2017.
  13. ^ Comedian Vir Das causes a stir with 'two Indias' monologue
  14. ^ Frayer, Lauren (18 November 2021). "Comedian Vir Das called out sexual violence in India. Now he faces lawsuits". NPR. Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  15. ^ "Mumbai Police register FIR against comedian Vir Das, Netflix on charges of copyright infringement". The Times of India. PTI. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 12 January 2023.
  16. ^ "AGP World". AGP World.
  17. ^ "Ashvin Gidwani Productions and Vir Das take the audience on a laughter ride". India Infoline. 20 August 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  18. ^ Richardson, Jay (9 August 2011). "Vir Das at Edinburgh Festival Fringe". The List. Retrieved 3 March 2020.
  19. ^ "They're Comedy Stars at Home. They're Nobodies at Edinburgh Fringe". New York Times. 24 August 2022.
  20. ^ Nijhawan, Meghna (27 April 2017). "Comedian Vir Das Compares Donald Trump To Arranged Marriage On US TV Show". NDTV.
  21. ^ Riley, Jenelle (13 June 2017). "Variety Announces 10 Comics to Watch for 2017". Variety. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  22. ^ Singh, Deepali (10 December 2018). "'I have worked very hard to be this exhausted': Vir Das". Daily News and Analysis.
  23. ^ Arora, Akhil (18 October 2019). "'Jestination Unknown: Vir Das, Shruti Seth & Co. Tour India and Make Jokes': Vir Das". NDTV. Archived from the original on 10 November 2019. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  24. ^ a b Choudhury, Bedatri (29 October 2019). "A Potential "Fresh Off The Boat"Spinoff With Preity Zinta And Vir Das". Forbes. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  25. ^ Malik, Ektaa (16 December 2020). "Vir Das Outside In The Lockdown Special review: A highly relatable Netflix special". The Indian Express. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
  26. ^ "Comedian Vir Das causes a stir with 'two Indias' monologue". BBC News. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  27. ^ "Indian comedian Vir Das's hard-hitting 'Two Indias' monologue lands him in trouble". DAWN Images. 19 November 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  28. ^ Shih, Gerry; Masih, Niha (17 November 2021). "Indian comedian causes stir with Kennedy Center monologue". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  29. ^ Kwan, Rhoda (18 November 2021). "Comedian's tale of 'two Indias' at U.S. show sparks outrage at home". NBC News. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  30. ^ Mogul, Rhea (18 November 2021). "Indian comedian polarizes nation with his tale of 'two Indias'". CNN. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  31. ^ "Comedian Vir Das causes a stir with 'two Indias' monologue". BBC News. 17 November 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  32. ^ "Vir Das". Earwolf. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  33. ^ "International Emmys Sets Vir Das As Host". Deadline.com. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  34. ^ IANS (23 January 2020). "Preity Zinta, Vir Das' 'Fresh Off The Boat' Episode to Premiere on Jan. 24". India West. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  35. ^ "Vir Das's Abroad Understanding: The comedian tackles religion, racism and more in his Netflix special show". Firstpost. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  36. ^ "Vir Das to join Ananya Panday and Gurfateh Pirzada in Call Me Bae". Bollywood Hungama. 8 August 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
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