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Vir Das (born 31 May 1979) is an
Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...
comedian, actor and musician. After beginning a career in standup comedy, Das moved to
Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...
starring in films like ''
Badmaash Company ''Badmaash Company'' () is a 2010 Hindi-language crime comedy film written and directed by actor Parmeet Sethi and produced by Aditya Chopra. The film stars Shahid Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, Vir Das and Meiyang Chang. The film was released on 7 ...
'' (2010), '' Delhi Belly'' (2011), and ''
Go Goa Gone ''Go Goa Gone'' is a 2013 Indian Hindi-language zombie action comedy film directed by Raj and D.K. The film features Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwari and Puja Gupta. It was released on 10 May 2013. Almost one third of the fil ...
'' (2013) in supporting roles. In 2017, he acted in the
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
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 Maxim or Maksim may refer to: Entertainment * ''Maxim'' (magazine), an international men's magazine ** ''Maxim'' (Australia), the Australian edition ** ''Maxim'' (India), the Indian edition *Maxim Radio, ''Maxim'' magazine's radio channel on Sir ...
'', ''Exotica'', '' DNA'' and ''
Tehelka ''Tehelka'' (Hindi: Sensation) is an Indian news magazine known for its investigative journalism and sting operations. According to the British newspaper ''The Independent'', the ''Tehelka'' was founded by Tarun Tejpal, Aniruddha Bahal and a ...
''. In 2019, he made his debut in American television with the television series, ''
Whiskey Cavalier ''Whiskey Cavalier'' is an American action comedy-drama television series, created by David Hemingson, that premiered on February 24, 2019. The full pilot episode debuted after the Oscars and was rebroadcast in the show’s regular time slot thre ...
''.


Personal life

Vir Das was born to Ranu Das and Madhur Das in
Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and is governed by the Dehradun Municipal Corporation, with the Uttarakhand Legislative As ...
on 31 May 1979. He was raised in
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
and India. In Nigeria, he attended the
Indian Language School The Indian Language School was established in Lagos, Nigeria in 1982 in light of the growing Indian community in the city. Indian Language School is a private school setup by the Indian high commission in Nigeria. It was originally set up in a ...
in
Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...
,
Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...
. In India, he attended
The Lawrence School, Sanawar The Lawrence School, Sanawar, is the oldest Co-Ed boarding school in the world near Solan city. Established in 1847, its history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the most prestigious and oldest schools in Asia. It is located in the ...
and Delhi Public School, Noida. After 18 months at Sri Venkateswara College,
University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...
he went to the United States. There 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
Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...
's and
Moscow Arts Theatre The Moscow Art Theatre (or MAT; russian: Московский Художественный академический театр (МХАТ), ''Moskovskiy Hudojestvenny Akademicheskiy Teatr'' (МHАТ)) was a theatre company in Moscow. It was f ...
for their joint Stanislavsky Program. He has a sister Trisha, who is four years elder to him and is a published author and a documentary filmmaker. He has claimed in one of his shows that his grandfather was a
Padma Shri Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, ...
awardee from Bengal. He married his girlfriend of five years, Shivani Mathur, in October 2014.


Career

He began his career with a gig at one of the premier hotel in New Delhi with a performance titled "Walking on Broken Das". Das started his career on TV when he hosted two TV shows on
Zoom Zoom may refer to: Technology Computing * Zoom (software), videoconferencing application * Page zooming, the ability to magnify or shrink a portion of a page on a computer display * Zooming user interface, a graphical interface allowing for image ...
. The first one was ''Is Route Ki Sabhin Linein Maast Hain'' where he was an
agony uncle An advice column is a column in a question and answer format. Typically, a (usually anonymous) reader writes to the media outlet with a problem in the form of a question, and the media outlet provides an answer or response. The responses are w ...
. The second was his own stand-up comedy late night show ''Ek Rahin Vir''. Das also hosted ''Top Drive - Getaway'' for
Star World Star World (formerly known as Star Plus) is an English language entertainment television channel originally launched on 15 December 1991 as Star Entertainment () by STAR TV in Hong Kong as the old iteration of Star Plus. On 30 March 1996, the ...
. 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 Sony SAB (formerly SAB TV) is an Indian pay television channel owned by Culver Max Entertainment. History Sony SAB was launched as SAB TV by Gautam Adhikari and Markand Adhikari under their company Sri Adhikari Brothers (thus the acronym) on ...
's ''Lo Kar Lo Baat''. He was an addition to the cast of ''
The Great Indian Comedy Show The Great Indian Comedy Show is an Indian stand-up and sketch comedy show in Hindi. The program was first aired in October 2004. Much of the comedy performed in the program includes: Janta Ki Hajamat, Ratan Re-Imburse, Cutting with Jaggu & Tau ...
'' on
STAR One Star One was an Indian pay television network based in Mumbai. It was launched on 1 November 2004 and was it owned by Star TV and distributed worldwide by Fox International Channels. In November 2006, Star One was launched in the UK on Sky. ...
. He can be seen anchoring ''Now Not Showing'' on
CNN-IBN CNN-News18 (originally CNN-IBN) is an Indian English-language news television channel founded by Raghav Bahl based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. It is currently co-owned by Network18 Group and Warner Bros. Discovery. CNN provides internationa ...
. Das is the host of ''News on the Loose'', his own news comedy show on
CNBC-TV18 CNBC TV18 is an Indian pay television business and financial news channel owned by NBCUniversal and TV18. CNBC TV18 Prime HD Having launched on 26 October 2011, this is CNBC TV18's premium service and the first business channel in India t ...
. ''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 '' The Curse of King Tut's Tomb'', a
Hallmark A hallmark is an official mark or series of marks struck on items made of metal, mostly to certify the content of noble metals—such as platinum, gold, silver and in some nations, palladium. In a more general sense, the term '' hallmark'' can a ...
mini-series filmed in India. He began filming for his first two Bollywood roles in early 2006. He played a small role
Vipul Shah Vipul Amrutlal Shah (commonly known as Vipul Shah) is a film producer and director of Hindi films. He began his career with Gujarati theater. He was part/director of a number of Gujarati dramas, some of which were well received by Gujarati audie ...
's 2007 movie ''
Namastey London ''Namastey London'' () is a 2007 Indian romance film, directed and produced by Vipul Amrutlal Shah, starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in lead roles. It also stars Rishi Kapoor, Nina Wadia, Javed Sheikh, Upen Patel and Clive Standen in s ...
''. 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. He performed at
Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...
in 2011 and in 2022. On 25 April 2017, Das's
Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
special ''Abroad Understanding'' was released, in the process becoming the first Indian comedian with a comedy special on the platform. In June 2017 Das was named one of ''Variety'''s "10 Comics to Watch for 2017." In December 2018, Das released his second Netflix comedy special, entitled ''Losing It''. 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. He starred opposite
Preity Zinta Preity G Zinta (pronounced ; born 31 January 1975) is an Indian actress and entrepreneur primarily known for her work in Hindi films. After graduating with degrees in English honours and criminal psychology, Zinta made her acting debut in '' ...
in a ''
Fresh Off the Boat The phrase fresh off the boat ''(FOB)'', off the boat ''(OTB)'', are sometimes-derogatory terms used to describe immigrants who have arrived from a foreign nation and have yet to assimilate into the host nation's culture, language, and behavior, ...
'' episode titled "The Magic Motor Inn". He plays the patriarch of an Indian family. Das's onscreen family will be at the center of the plot of the official spin-off of the same show. His latest endeavor was on Netflix during the lockdown in 2020, in a one-hour special called ''Vir Das: Outside In''. On 12 November 2021, Das performed a monologue titled "Two Indias" at the
Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...
in Washington.


Filmography


Film


Television


Web


References


External links


History of India – 2010

Vir Das at Chakpak.com

YouTube
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Vir 1979 births Living people 21st-century Indian male actors Knox College (Illinois) alumni Indian male comedians Indian male television actors Indian stand-up comedians Male actors from Dehradun Male actors in Hindi cinema