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EXCLUSIVE: Vir Das reveals how Hasmukh came about, writing jokes in Hindi and his take on dark humour
Pinkvilla got in touch with lead actor and stand up comedian Vir Das know about new Netflix series Hasmukh, what was the most difficult part and his take on dark humour.
Netflix is making home quarantine bearable for millions of Indians with its long list of television series and films. The brand new addition to this list is Vir Das and Ranvir Shorey starrer Hasmukh which drops today, 17 April. Pinkvilla got in touch with lead actor and stand up comedian Vir Das to dive deep and know how Hasmukh came about, what was the most difficult part and his take on dark humour among other things. Hasmukh revolves around a comedian from small-town Saharanpur who murders people to be a better performer on-stage.
Vir Das, who is the co-creator and plays a stand up comedian in the 10-episode web series, was quizzed what struck him most about the show. He said, "I thought of the project almost three and a half years ago because I was keen to do something when I came back to acting in India after the first Netflix special. I took a year and half off to just do standup and tour the world. When I was coming back to acting, in India, I wanted to come back with something different because it had been a while. So, I started developing this idea with Nikhil Advani. I am OCD about what I do before I get on stage. I also have a leather belt that I have worn for every comedy show I have done in the last 19 years. So I kind of combined those two things where I thought what if there was a guy who has to strangle somebody before he gets on stage." 
Das also reminisced how writing jokes in Hindi was something he had never done before. "For me the toughest part was writing stand up in Hindi because that's something I've never done. So it took a lot of observing just sort of great comics like Raju Srivastav, Jaspal Bhatti .. a lot of the laughter challenge people as well. And then balancing the funny with the darkness. I think I really leaned into what Nikhil Advani was saying. I was in charge of the funny on the show and he was in charge of the narrative and darkness of the show. So as co-creators we worked really well with each other."
Party suru. Aaj 12.30 baje. #Hasmukh acche shtyle mein lag rahe hain na?
However, Indians are not the best when it comes to taking a joke on them. When asked if he was worried about offending people, Vir Das said, "No, I am not in charge of the line. My job is simply to write a joke and deliver it to the audience. You draw the line. I don't draw the line. And if you feel offended, it's not because I was intending to give offense...that's something that has been taken. Nobody writes a joke to offend people. We only write a joke with the purpose of laughter."
Speaking about Indian OTT platforms and how fresh content is the king today. Vir Das said, "I believe that especially for people like me who want to create content they are a part of as performers..the web has been a huge blessing. I feel like when you take away the pressure to theatrically recover a film via ticket sales.. very big stars get to experiment. No one else gets to experiment. with content. So dark comedy is being done by commerically bankable stars but for a really small fish like me who wants to write, act, co-create and co-produce..OTT's have been a blessing. You create with complete freedom and without any censorship."
Hum bhi kabhi kabhi shot mar lete hain #Hasmukh
Vir Das also noted that the stand-up comedy world has changed and people are taking comedians more seriously now. "Regional and Hindi comedy is becoming big. Hindi comedians are getting millions of views on YouTube. Very young and getting to make money off of them as professional performers which I think is a great thing. And the more and more of us do this makes the art form better because you have to innovate in order to stay relevant and survive. Which I think is always good for the standard of any art form."
The actor and stand-up comedian concluded that he is binge watching documentaries and Hasmukh as well. "I have been watching Hasmukh because I didn't get time to watch it after the final colour correction and sound mix. So, that's what I watched."
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