If there is one thing that Vir Das cannot stand, it is the feeling of purposelessness; he says he gets cranky when feeling that way. Unfortunately, much of 2020 made the actor and stand-up comedian feel that way.
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Which is why he sat down with a mic and a camera pointed at him, and asked people the simplest question one could amid the uncertainties of a lockdown: “What are you going to do when lockdown ends?” Initially hosted as part of a fundraising initiative titled Inside Out on his website — to support NGOs extending COVID-19 or related relief — a compilation of these shows have now released as a Netflix stand-up special. Metroplus connected with Vir Das, who is in Goa performing live shows to a restricted audience, about the special titled Outside In . Edited excerpts:
A poster for ‘Outside In’
You are back performing live shows. How does it feel?
Nothing beats the live experience. However, it does feel like 2008 and I am trying to rebuild everything from scratch. I’m holding my shows in the middle of a forest in the middle of the day, with people wearing masks. It is not the ideal atmosphere for stand-up, but you feel the most free as an artiste because there is literally nothing to lose.
You did the camera work, editing and sound recording for Inside Out . How was the experience?
What you will see on Netflix has been worked on, edited and changed a bit. But yes, when I was doing the shows online from March to June this year, I was handling it all. It felt a lot easier than I thought it would be. By the fourth or fifth show, I was sure that this is a moment in time that needed to be captured [on film].
What was the most unique moment from the show?
It was this guy from Udupi, who actually ended up becoming the central character of the show. He said he just wanted to have ice cream because he was feeling low. I asked why and he said he had been accepted into a college in the USA with full scholarship, and now he wouldn’t get a visa. He didn’t know if he could go the next year... that was heartbreaking. So many people may have gone through that moment, but he was so brave: all he wanted was ice cream! When lockdown ended, we send lots of that to his residence.
Vir Das
What was your takeaway from hosting it?
For an artiste who has been centrestage all his life to say ‘No, I need to put others in the spotlight’... that gave me a purpose and an understanding of my audience that I never thought I would have.
Tell us about your upcoming projects.
I will do a romcom subject early next year. There is also a web series that I will star in and produce, which will be shot in Goa. Besides that, I am the creative director for two other projects in which I am not a part of the cast.
When do you expect to see more audiences in stand-up shows?
By October next year, we should start looking at some sort of normalcy returning to tours. Enough people among us will be vaccinated, and we will be able to work with a larger crowd whilst still wearing masks and staying distanced. What will be more interesting will be the evolution of stand-up material. The pressure to innovate will be huge because people are going to get tired of listening to mask or lockdown jokes.
We have enough comedians, but someone hosting a late night talk show like in the West hasn’t happened here. Has it anything to do with the state of politics?
I don’t view it as a political problem. Most politicians are used to being made fun of, and they view that as fair game. But it is the audience and not the politicians who take offence to the jokes. It is the people that love politicians who you have to be scared of; the guy who has five degrees of separation from the politician and power is the scariest guy in the world!
Outside In is streaming on Netflix
