International Emmys Host Vir Das on His “Public A** Whooping”
“When Vir Das hears an American comedian talk about being “canceled,” he can only laugh.
“Every time an American comedian complains about getting canceled, I’m like: ‘Grab a flight to India, just let me show you something,’ ” says the Indian stand-up comedian and actor.
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Three years ago, Das got a taste of cancel culture, Indian style. His “Two Indias” routine, performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Nov. 12, 2021, in which he pointed to the absurd contrasts in his home country — “I come from an India where we worship women during the day and gang rape them at night” — triggered a furious backlash. Politicians from India’s ruling BJP party accused him of defaming the nation and filed criminal charges. He got bombarded with death threats.
“I had seven criminal complaints filed against me, was being charged with sedition and defaming India on foreign soil,” Das recounts in his latest Netflix special, Landing. “I was called a terrorist on three different news channels on the primetime news. Now that is an interesting conversation with your mother that evening.”
Das has weathered the storm of public outrage and turned it into art. His 2021 special, Vir Das: For India, was an International Emmy nominee, he won the International Emmy for best comedy last year for Landing and this year will be hosting the 2024 International Emmy ceremony at the New York Hilton Midtown on Nov. 25. THR caught up with Das via Zoom from India to talk international comedy, the Indian characters he’d like to see on Western TV (hint: no more doctors) and why the International Emmys “allows you to punch above your weight.”
You grew up around the world — Nigeria, India, the U.S. Where does your comedy perspective come from?
It’s definitely a misfit perspective. But ironically, I think that opens you up to a lot more freedom. Because as comedy becomes more ideologically influenced and people have dogs in the race, I get to kind of show up and be: “No, I have no dog in the race. I’m not from here. I’m not really from anywhere, and here’s how I see you,” which I think a lot of outsiders don’t get to do. They don’t get to show a country back to itself. I get to be this misfit whose only agenda is friendship. I get to talk about Americans with a lot more freedom than American comics. I’m not voting in your election. I’m not part of the woke crowd. I’m not part of this alpha male wing of comedy, either.
What sort of TV did you grew up on and how has that informed your comedy?
I grew up in Africa. In Lagos, Nigeria we got something called Bok-TV, which was Botswana TV. I remember being six and seven and watching Fresh Prince of Bel Air and The Cosby Show. I remember watching Richard Pryor’s specials and Eddie Murphy’s Raw and Delirious. We moved back to India and cable TV arrived from abroad. Two soap operas in particular, The Bold and the Beautiful and Santa Barbara, were massive in India. I went to college in Galesburg; Illinois where I discovered stand-up. The first Comedy Central half-hours started coming out, where today’s legends did their first 30 minutes. My guys were George Carlin, for sure. Eddie Izzard for how he could make you feel he was making it all up on the spot, when in fact, it was meticulously written and rehearsed, and Richard Pryor for showing how to bring vulnerability and pain into comedy. So those are my big three, Carlin, Izzard, Pryor.
Do you still take inspiration from other comedians out there?
Absolutely. When I saw what Bo Burnham did with [his Emmy-winning special] Inside, I was definitely a little pissed. That’s so good, I thought, I’ve got to step my game up. I don’t watch a lot of stand up, because I can usually see the punch line coming. But when something’s visually very interesting or narratively very interesting, I get in on it. I’d watch any Mike Birbiglia special for sure, just to admire the structure and craft.
What do you think of representations of Indians in Western TV and Western comedy that are out there and what would you like to see change?
I’d love to see us more flawed, and I would love to see us making horrible choices. I’d love to see us getting violent, and I’d love to see us dying more. I’d love to see us killing more, and I’d love to see us having more sex. I’d love to see us challenge the model minority perspective: the doctor, the diligent student, the IT professional. There are 1.4 billion of us who are flawed and making horrible choices and doing drugs and hooking up and having sex and falling in love. You don’t get to see a lot of that.
Why hasn’t Indian content broken out internationally in the way that say South Korean content has, given that India is a much larger country with a much larger film and TV industry?
Well, we’re busy. We release six films a weekend. We have our own shit going on, you know? So with all due respect, we’ll get to the global explosion when we have time. Right now we’re making great movies for a massive audience, we are very, very busy. But having said that, I do think we’re on the cusp of a global content shift. Stand-up is not cinema but it’s something that I’ve experienced as well. My last Netflix special was shot in New York and was very much looking at Americans saying, here’s all this shit you don’t know about India and the world, and let me introduce you. Like Dave Chappelle introduced me to Ohio, I’ll take you to Mumbai or to Delhi. Comedically, I see that shift happening where it’s more important to be authentic to where you come from.
I first noticed you after your “Two Indians” routine in New York, which got you into a lot of trouble back home. How do you look back on that experience now?
I think the hard lesson is maybe don’t use an open mic at the Kennedy Center to test out new material. But I also think if you are fortunate enough to have the kind of audience that I, God bless, have globally, the numbers that I have, you are on a train ride and one stop on that train ride is a massive public ass whooping. Whether you are quiet or reckless, the train’s going to stop at that station at least once in your career. But the train keeps going, and there are many happy stops on the way, as well.
Has it given you a different perspective on American comedians who talk about being canceled, meaning getting kicked off of YouTube, when you were threatened with jail, and called a terrorist on national television?
I think the American cancel culture archetype is…cute. I do a lot of jokes in my new special about how every time an American comedian complains about getting canceled, I’m like: ‘Grab a flight to India Just let me show you something.’ But the way I see it is you have this massive cultural pendulum that just swings very quickly and ruthlessly. It kind of swung in that cancel culture direction, then it really swung in the other direction. And I’m hoping it swings in a nuanced direction, towards some sort of middle road soon.
Have things calmed down in India or are you still public enemy number one?
Touch wood, things are good. I just wrapped a wonderful tour in India. We shot a massive special in Mumbai, and the International Emmy helped a lot too. I think what helped too was that I did zero press. I didn’t really milk my controversy. I just shut up and wrote a show, put the show up, and then that show got some acclaim. I wasn’t doing the equivalent of crying on Oprah or even talking about it on my social media. I just kind of turned it into art.
You were nominated for the International Emmy in 2021 and won in 2023 for your Netflix special Landing. What is the significance of this award for people outside the U.S.?
It allows you to punch above your weight on the sheer might of content or talent. The first time I was nominated, it was for a stand-up comedy special, so a guy with a mic, some lights and two speakers. I was nominated alongside Call My Agent!, which is a multimillion-dollar Netflix giant that won. Two years later, when I was nominated, it was another special with no set, just a few lights, some sand on the floor. I was nominated with Derry Girls, another massive global hit, and a Rowan Atkinson show. And we’re all on the same platform, the same playing field. That’s a very rare thing. If you’re looking for an awards ceremony that supports the underdog, purely on the might of their content, the International Emmys are it.
This story appeared in the Nov. 13 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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