Popular actor and stand-up comedian Vir Das has put out an interesting video snippet promoting his upcoming comedy tour across 33 countries. The comedian, widely known for his political satire, landed in controversy in 2021 after his stand-up piece titled “I come from two Indias” went viral. In it, he satirised India’s political misgovernance and systemic misogyny among other things, exposing himself to severe backlash. Republic TV head Arnab Goswami then went at him in a news hour debate, claiming that Vir Das was abusing India in America, where the said show was filmed. Now, the comedian has stitched bits of Arnab’s voice from the 2021 news hour debate and made a new promo for his upcoming comedy tour.
In his new promotional reel, Vir Das makes a request to his viewers to come to his stand up performance in a format where his sentences are completed by Arnab. When Vir Das says “Real life,” the next bit we see is of Arnab from the news debate saying “is not comedy.” Throughout the video, the comedian skillfully uses one of the most heated criticisms against him to create promotional content that urges people to come watch his new show, where “he and Arnab” guarantee a few laughs!
The video has already garnered the attention of netizens, who have been calling this a brilliant marketing strategy. “Watch and learn how to make smart content that doesn’t involve screaming,” commented one user, taking a jibe at Arnab and his style of news presentation, while another wrote, “We need more shows in London, all seem booked out!”.
Vir Das has landed in many controversies with right-wing groups in the country accusing him of hurting sentiments, after his politically charged, opinionated shows were released online. In November 2022, a right-wing organisation called Hindu Janajagruti Samiti filed a complaint with the Karnataka police demanding the cancellation of his comedy show scheduled to be held in Bengaluru. Following this, the Vyalikaval police booked a First Information Report (FIR) against Vir Das for allegedly hurting religious sentiments.
Apart from stand-up comedy, Vir Das has also acted in films like Delhi Belly, Go Goa Gone, and Badmaash Company to name a few.