Laughter lines

Manpriya Singh

Whatever it takes for the audience to crack up (and it takes quite a lot), Vir Das is ready to be autobiographical, scandalous or downright mean. That is only when he is not willing to spin the moral compass too much. Otherwise there are a few subjects which are off limits.

“I do not make jokes where illness is concerned, nor on elderly people,” he shares on where he draws the line, while in Chandigarh, a few hours before his performance at Tagore Theatre.

Rather it is only an hour to go, the time when everything ought to be in place.

Sound, lighting and even the audience. “Do they come on time?” he interacts with the staff, alternates between sips of tea and water. While strumming Stairway to Heaven and suddenly starting off, ‘Ladies and gentlemen, let me tell you about my first kiss.

I had the worst first kiss…’

It’s only a rehearsal, only a glimpse of what’s to come…Catch them unaware and make them crack up. Audience matters the most. For him the only pressure comes from a man who bought the ticket and the only concern is whether he is having fun.

Butt of the joke

So, how many of his experiences are true, lies, exaggerated? “They are inspired by experiences and observations and some of them are autobiographical too, but the audience will never know what is true and what is not,” he doesn’t mind if the joke is on himself.

“For, the joke has to be at somebody’s expense,” that’s his take on people getting offended, which happens more often than not in India. “For every 10 people who like a joke, there will always be two people who do not.” Most of the subjects, romance, relationships, marriage, friends, emotions, gender, even religion, bring them on.

That leads things to the latest and the controversial AIB sense of humour. “It’s not my type of humour since it is not stand up comedy. They received very mixed feedback but what’s more important is that they garnered a lot of reactions. While in my case, I’m the only one standing up there, so things are different.”

Pressure points

Sing the same song 10 times, they listen. Share the same joke twice, they jeer. And then the comparisons with Jay Leno! He laughs, “The only pressure I have is from the people who buy my tickets and I sell a lot of tickets. That is where the pressure comes from. I had set myself a target of half million tickets in seven years, which I achieved only in three years.” He adds, “If somebody is coming to watch my show for Rs 2,500, he is letting go of 10 movie tickets. I want them to feel that they made the right choice.”

Going with the flow

Amidst a target of yet another half-million tickets in the next two years, are four releases lined up this year. “My next is Mastizaade with Sunny Leone, followed by Khanna Patel. Then there’s a story based on 84 riots where I play a Sardar, opposite Soha Ali Khan. For the character, I learnt how to tie a turban, speak some Punjabi.”

The fourth one needs a little nudging. “It’s a psychopath thriller.” So is mainstream Bollywood just a few inches away? “The term mainstream Bollywood doesn’t exist anymore. We have Dum Laga Ke Haisha doing well and so many big budget flops. The audience saw in Revolver Rani that I could be more than funny. The question is does the audience trust you? And I want to build on this trust, by singing, acting and making them laugh.” Whatever it takes!

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