On the Delhi leg of his tour, Das served up a laugh riot, tackling everything from global politics to your Instagram addiction to the powers that be, with razor-sharp wit and a healthy dose of self-deprecation
Forget the impeccable acoustics of Carnegie Hall (New York) or the polished marble of the Kennedy Center (Washington) or the elegant Edwardian architecture of Apollo Theatre (London) — these are some of the places where internationally acclaimed comedian Vir Das has performed in the past couple of years. Siri Fort Auditorium in saddi dilli, where he brought the house down as part of the Delhi leg of his ‘Mind Fool India Tour’ this last weekend, is Das’s home turf. Here, the audience surpasses all others, trumping even the fanciest of venues.
Sure, the air conditioning may have been on the fritz, the upholstery thick with a vintage layer of dust, and the mosquitoes doing a stand-up routine of their own, but it was heartwarming to see Das in his element — oozing bravado one minute, showcasing a hint of vulnerability the other and sagely dispensing life advice soon after — especially because it comes in the wake of the turbulent last few years he has had. Only Das can claim to have a golden statuette of an Emmy Award having a pride of place in his home next to the many FIRs that had been lodged against him.
So, while the venue may not have been the most glamorous, the experience was pure gold: it made one realise that comedy, at its best, is a communal experience, a shared rebellion against the absurdity of life. Das performed this act earlier in the capital, and yet the crowd turned up. And trust us, they were not disappointed. Das had packed in new material, and the audience got their money’s worth. The show kicked off in classic Delhi style: a hint of rain, a dash of traffic chaos, and hordes of college kids — some with their parents in tow, others navigating the treacherous waters of ‘situationships’ — made a beeline to watch the ‘critically acclaimed’ comic live. The four shows of the weekend had been ‘sold out,’ the opening act of the evening, comic Neeti Palta, informed. But even by the time Das took the stage, there were plenty of seats that were still vacant.
Packing a power punch
“Can I get you some tea? Coffee? Water? A watch?” Das asked a couple, as they sauntered in significantly late — even by Delhi’s ‘fashionably late’ standards. “That’s an old one, but it works,” responds Das as the couple sheepishly took some of the prime seats in the house. The audience by then was giggling hysterically, some even clapping. “I could be at the Ambani wedding!,” states Das, “between cringey rich people with that taste, but I am already in Delhi”, and the whole auditorium erupts in loud laughter, and a couple of whistles. “Nita Ambani is like Bollywood’s Vaishno Devi, bulawa aaya hai toh jaana padega….”. And this was just the beginning.
In his almost an hour-long set, Das spared no one. Everything was kosher. One could have played a Bingo game or even a drinking game, where one could tick off every news item of the list, or take a shot, as Das took it to task. The recent election results. Ayushmann Khurrana. Kapil Sharma. The USA. Racism. Bigotry. Minorities. Biryani. Malala Yousafzai. Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Kangana Ranaut. Shashi Tharoor. Taylor Swift. They all made it to Das’s act. GenZs were called out for their obsession with labels, and women were at the receiving end for their Instagram makeup templates.
The spectre of the current powers that be loomed large over the gathering. Das employed the ‘He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’ tactic from the Harry Potter series — Das is a fan — and let the innuendos and smart quips do the heavy lifting. At one point he stated: “You could be watching comedy, or betraying your country”, which led to a collective groan from the audience. “…. I am not comparing our Prime Minister to Mutton Biryani, as only one of them can be enjoyed by Muslims in our country,” powered through Das.
It’s commendable that Das, in spite of the couple of hard years he has had, still sticks to his guns. He continues to do what he believes in. While many of his contemporaries have switched gears and shifted to other formats and subject material. Zakir Khan, another very famous comic storyteller, with a massive fan following, when asked by an audience member in a news interview if he would ever do political satire and comedy, had immediately responded with a “dekhiye aapke personal pleasure ke liye main apna career daanv pe nahin laga sakta.” (See, I can’t put my career at stake for your personal pleasure). But Das soldiers on. Slowly. Steadily.
An awkward moment
Halfway through the act, Das walked through the audience, got the house lights on — illuminating the arena and the people — and pondered over how there are some things that had not been sitting right since 2019. And we are all just accepting the status quo, ‘worshiping false heroes’ because the alternative is to think and question reality. There was a pregnant pause, and one could almost hear the palpable awkwardness in the 3000-seater space. Das persisted for another couple of minutes, taking the audience to almost a state of anxiety. And then rounded off that “.....Marvel movies had lost the plot… and had us worshiping false heroes…”.
Tittering laughter broke out, but what was more noticeable was the sigh of relief. The uncomfortable part of the act was over. In the beginning, Das had uttered the lines, “Don’t make me think, make me laugh,” perhaps a dig at YouTuber Elvish Yadav. His act makes you think, and laugh, very hard. Das also shared that he is undergoing therapy. That confession earned a very warm ‘Awwwww’ with a few claps from the audience. “Thank you South Delhi,” answered Das.
Whether therapy worked for Das or not remains to be seen. But his act for sure was therapeutic for those in attendance. Can we say for sure that Das is the funniest comic in India today? We don’t know. But we can surely say he is the bravest. When history looks back, and time questions, he will definitely be on the right side of things. Sometimes, the mere act of standing up and stating your truth becomes an act of revolution. Das spearheads this revolution for sure. His act reminds one of lines by German poet Bertolt Brecht: “In the dark times/Will there also be singing?/Yes, there will also be singing./About the dark times.” Das’s act is akin to that. A flickering flame in the dark times.
