Cinesprint - May 2015

isingSTAR
B O L L Y W O O D
A STAND UP
COMEDIAN
FOR INDIA
Bollywood has many comedians who entertain
the audience with their rib tickling comedy.
However when it comes to the younger
generation of comedians, Vir Das will have
a prominent place in them. Vir Saran Das was born in
Dehradun and has lived in Africa and studied in Indian
Language School in Lagos, Nigeria, Shimla and Delhi.
He obtained a Bachelor’s degree from Knox College,
Illinois in Economics & Theatre with a concentration
in performance.
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Vir is also a brother of Knox’s Delta Theta chapter of
Sigma Nu fraternity. After graduating from Knox, Vir
was accepted into Harvard University in Cambridge,
Massachusetts for their Stanislavsky Program in
coalition with the Moscow Arts Theatre. He was a
teaching assistant for Beginning Acting at Knox. At
Harvard, Vir has been trained as a method actor for six
months and performed eight plays with the Moscow
Arts Theatre.
Vir Das performed at the Habitat Center, New Delhi
on a visit to India. While in the USA, Vir was a cast
member in three sketch comedy troupes: The Really
Useless Improv, Improv Inc, and Illegal Aliens. He
performed, wrote and developed ‘Whose Line is it
anyway?’ style comedy sketches with them. He has
performed as a ship comedian aboard Carnival Cruise
Line between Houston and Mexico. Furthermore, he
spent time working comedy clubs in Chicago. People
have seen many of his standup comedy.
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He began filming for his first two Bollywood roles in
early 2006. He can be seen in Vipul Shah’s hit movie
Namastey London. The Indian Express has called him
‘a comedian to watch out for’ and ‘India’s Answer
to Jay Leno’. The Hindustan Times calls him ‘simply
hysterical’. Delhi Times has listed him as one of Delhi’s
Top Ten Dream Men. The Pioneer has called him ‘The
Funniest Kid in India’. Verve has called him ‘India’s
only true comic’.
Vir has approximately 35 plays, over 100 stand-up
comedy shows, 8 TV shows, 2 movies and 6 comedy
specials behind him. He is writing comedic columns
for Femina, Maxim, Exotica, DNA and Tehelka. Vir
Das also announced the launch of his own YouTube
Channel http://www.YouTube.com/VirDas on
September 5th, 2013 along with the start of YouTube
Comedy Week. He has been seen in movies like
Mumbai Calling, Love Aaj Kal, Badmaash Company,
Delhi Belly, Go Goa Gone, Sooper Se Ooper, Shaadi
Ke Side Effects Revolver Rani and Amit Sahni Ki List.
His recent movies Santa Banta and Mastizaade are
gearing up for release soon. After exploring a lot in
drama and cinema, Vir Das is now stable with many
comedy flicks lined up to entertain the audience.