Vir Das: Win or lose, it’s nice to have my culture up there

Vir Das

How did Vir Das celebrate his stand-up special's nomination at the International Emmy Awards 2021? By ordering in kathi rolls, he says. "I was in London preparing for my show [when I got the news]. My wife poured me a drink, and we ordered kathi rolls. It seemed the most apt way to celebrate a show about India being nominated," reasons the comedian-actor, whose special Vir Das: For India has bagged a nomination in the Best Comedy category. The Netflix special is pitted against French series Call My Agent season 4, UK's Motherland Christmas Special and Colombia's Promesas de Campana for the honour.

To Das, this recognition is all the more special as For India is rooted in the country. "Be it international or domestic awards, they mean the same thing to an [artiste]. It implies that your talent is seen, your perspective validated. This [recognition] is important because it's a show about my people's culture and how funny India is." In the one-hour-plus special, he tries to dissect the potpourri of cultures that is India by studying varied elements - from the British Raj to the current political scene, to even the humble Parle G biscuits. "In an environment where we are talking about what [comprises] crossing the line, it's nice to have Indian humour validated and to show that we can laugh at ourselves. There are a lot of comedy versions of India, but there isn't a lot of Indian comedy on a global level. Win or lose, it's just nice to have my culture up there."

Also read: India has scored three nominations at the International Emmy Awards 2021