Vir Das

**Vir Das** is an Indian actor who is set to portray Jai Datta in ABC's Whiskey Cavalier.

## Biography

Vir Das was born in Dehradun. He was raised in Africa 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, 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.

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*.

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 *The Curse of King Tut's Tomb*, 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*.

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.

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.

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

## Other Works

* *Mumbai Salsa*
* *Mumbai Calling*
* *Love Aaj Kal*
* *Delhi Belly*
* *Go Goa Gone*
* *Shaadi Ke Side Effects*
* *Revolver Rani*
* *Santa Banta*
* *Raakh*
* *Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi*
* *A Broad Understanding*

## Trivia

* He is a brother of Knox College's Delta Theta chapter of Sigma Nu fraternity
* On the show the actor has said: “I had such a good time shooting the pilot. It’s an exciting time to bring Indian voices to American television. This is a comedy team and a cast that is the right mix of laughs and action. I’m looking forward to saving the world with some hilarious people. It was something that the universe sent my way while I was on tour in the US. I ended up meeting the team and we found this character together.”

## References

1. ↑ https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/hindi/bollywood/news/Shaadi-ke-Side-Effects-My-mother-tells-me-not-to-say-penis-on-stage-Vir-Das/articleshow/30222359.cms
2. ↑ http://www.indiainfoline.com/article/news-business/ashvin-gidwani-productions-and-vir-das-take-the-audience-on-a-laughter-ride-114082000051\_1.html
3. ↑ http://www.ndtv.com/offbeat/comedian-vir-das-compares-donald-trump-to-arranged-marriage-on-us-tv-show-1686514
4. ↑ https://variety.com/2017/tv/news/10-comics-to-watch-2017-hasan-minhaj-tiffany-haddish-1202464452/