INDIA'S COMEDY MUSCLE

Post his International Emmy win, India's funnyman Vir Das talks about striking comedy gold, and India's sense of humour

- PRATIKSHA ACHARYA

Vir Das had big plans after winning his first ever International Emmy award for his Netflix special, Vir Das: Landing. Unlike other people who win big awards and just sit in their hotel rooms to take it in, our man was going to head straight to Panchkula. "It felt good to stay grounded like that, you know," chuckles Das.

On a warm Tuesday afternoon, I find myself in a sparsely furnished room in one of the many bungalows in the bylanes of Bandra, waiting to interview Das. When I say sparsely furnished, I mean that there are two chairs and a table in the room where I am greeted by him, while he is still processing his win. Even off the stage, the guy is funny and is always serving witty oneliners. A win as mammoth as this one and the first of its kind for an Indian comic hasn't gone to his head, though. He says, "At the end of the day, my audience is happy for me, but they are going to expect me to make them laugh because they bought tickets to my show four months in advance, and it's good to know that you are answerable to them."