Vir Das is a man of many talents. A noteworthy stand-up comic who recently won an International Emmy Award for his Netflix special Vir Das: Landing, he began his acting career with a blink-and-miss role in Namastey London (2007). Following a bunch of films and a few stand-up specials, he turned a writer with Hasmukh (2020) that he also starred in. And now, he’s all set to make his directorial debut.
In an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Vir reveals that he’s gearing up to direct a Hindi-language horror feature which he will begin towards the end of 2024. Spilling the beans on why he chose to helm such a genre, he tells us, “The timing of a horror film is exactly the same as the timing in a comedy. A laugh and a scare are exactly the same things. That’s why comedy directors make good horror directors.”
Simultaneously, he’s also working on a few other projects and performing stand-up shows across the globe. Sharing a glimpse of his upcoming line-up, Vir says, “I’m developing an American TV show which is my own sitcom that I’m starring in. It’s with Fox and is called Country Eastern. I’ll start the series in July. I wrapped another series that I co-showran, co-directed and starred in. I’ll also be starring in an American rom-com.”
He might actively be working in Hollywood but back home, the last Bollywood film he featured in was Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi (2017). Quiz him about it and he points out, “I figured out a while ago that if I act in something, it has to justify why it was me in that role. There’s no shortage of leading men and funny people in the industry.”
And while he has been a part of some memorable films over the years, he agrees that he also ended up doing projects that didn’t align with his sensibilities. “I’ve done about five such films. But there are things that you do on the way to doing the things that you want to do. Otherwise, how would I get my name out there?” Vir states.
The 44-year-old further adds, “There was no YouTube, Netflix or Amazon when I started doing movies. So, I had to find some producer who believed in me and gave me some role in his film and who had a marketing agency and a PR so that people can go and see the movie so that someday they could be convinced when I do stand-up comedy.”
Looking back at his ‘very polarising’ Bollywood trajectory, Vir in his signature candour remarks, “My entire acting career has only been about cult movies. They’re either extremely loved and cultish or extremely hated and cultish. I don’t do any middle-ground acting work (laughs). Hasmukh, Delhi Belly (2011) and Go Goa Gone (2013) have cult followings. Mastizaade (2016) and some of the other films have a cult hatred.”
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