Vir Das

Vir Das
Vir Das in 2012
Born	Vir Das (1979-05-31) 31 May 1979 (age 42) Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Alma mater	Knox College (Illinois) (BS Economics and Theatre) Moscow Art Theatre (Stanislavsky Program)
Occupation	Comedian, Actor, Comedy musician
Years active	2005–present
Spouse(s)	Shivani Mathur ​ (m. 2014)​
Website	Official Website Personal Website

Vir Das (born 31 May 1979) is an Indian comedian, actor and comedy musician. After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to Hindi cinema starring in films like Delhi Belly, Badmaash Company and Go Goa Gone. In 2017, he acted in the Netflix special Abroad Understanding. Das has performed in approximately 35 plays, over 100 stand-up comedy shows, 18 films, eight TV shows and six comedy specials. He has written comedic columns for Femina, Maxim, Exotica, DNA and Tehelka. In 2019, he made his debut in American television with the television series, Whiskey Cavalier.

Personal life[]

Vir Das was born in Dehradun on 31 May 1979.^[1][2] He was raised in Nigeria^[2] and studied at the Indian Language School in Lagos, Nigeria, as well as at The Lawrence School, Sanawar and Delhi. He obtained a bachelor's degree from Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois in Economics and Theatre with a concentration in performance. After graduating from Knox, Das was accepted into the Stanislavsky Program of the Moscow Arts Theatre.

He married his girlfriend of 5 years, Shivani Mathur, in October 2014.^[3][4]

Career[]

It was at Knox that Das first explored stand-up comedy with his first special, Brown Men Can't Hump, which debuted in Knox's Harbach Theatre. He received a Richter Scholarship for Theatre and later went on to win the Colton Performance Award for Outstanding Achievement in Acting from Knox. He was a teaching assistant for Beginning Acting at Knox. At Harvard, Das trained as a method actor for six months and performed eight plays with the Moscow Arts Theatre.

Das returned to India in April 2003 and since then has performed over 100 comedy shows in all the major cities. He debuted six comedy specials written, directed by and starring him at the India Habitat Center. These include Brown Men Can't Hump, Not for Members Only, Bored of The Things!, Who Let the Das Out?, Son of a Switch! and VIRagra.^{[citation needed]}

Das started his career on TV when he hosted two TV shows on Zoom. The first one was Is Route Ki Sabhin Linein Maast Hain where he was an agony uncle. The second was his own stand-up comedy late night show Ek Rahin Vir. Das also hosted Top Drive - Getaway for Star World.

Das has appeared on a variety of comedic television programs. He hosted Cricket Firsts, a sports comedy show on Zee Sports (now TEN Action+). He did improvisational comedy on SAB TV's Lo Kar Lo Baat. He was an addition to the cast of The Great Indian Comedy Show on STAR One. He can be seen anchoring Now Not Showing on CNN-IBN.

Das is the host of News on the Loose, his own news comedy show on CNBC-TV18. News on the Loose was given its own weekly half-hour special News On The Loose — Weekend on CNBC-TV18.

Das was cast as the comic relief in , a Hallmark mini-series filmed in India. He began filming for his first two Bollywood roles in early 2006. He played a small role Vipul Shah's 2007 movie Namastey London.

Das has performed in approximately 35 plays, over 100 stand-up comedy shows, eight TV shows, two movies and six comedy specials. He has written comedic columns for Femina, Maxim, Exotica, DNA and Tehelka.^{[citation needed]}

Vir Das has also worked with Ashvin Gidwani Productions-AGP on stand-up shows like Walking on Broken Das, Battle of Da Sexes, and History of India: VIRitten, which he wrote and directed.^[5]

Vir Das performed at Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2011.^[6]

In 2012, Das released his first music album with his comedy rock band Alien Chutney. Das serves as vocalist on the album, entitled Mauritian Chutney. "Manboob", a track from the album, was later used in the 2018 Losing It Netflix special.^{[citation needed]}

On 25 April 2017, Das' Netflix special Abroad Understanding was released, in the process becoming the first Indian comedian with a comedy special on the platform.^[7]

In June 2017 Das was named one of Variety's "10 Comics to Watch for 2017."^[8]

In December 2018, Das released his second Netflix comedy special, entitled Losing It.^[9] In 2019, Vir plays the role of Jai Datta in American action comedy-drama series Whiskey Cavalier on ABC.^{[citation needed]}

In 2019, Das released his travel cum comedy show Jestination Unknown where he explores how Indians see humour along with a couple of other stand-up comedians and celebrities.^[10]

He starred opposite Preity Zinta in a Fresh Off the Boat episode titled "The Magic Motor Inn."^[11] He plays the patriarch of an Indian family. Das' onscreen family will be at the center of the plot of the official spin-off of the same show.^[11]

His latest endeavor was on Netflix during the lockdown in 2020, in a one-hour special called Vir Das: Outside In.^[12]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

Web[]

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vir Das.

• History of India – 2010
• Vir Das at Chakpak.com
• Vir Das at IMDb