Earlier this week, comedian Vir Das sparked massive outrage online after he shared his “Two Indias” gig that he performed at the Kennedy Center in the United States on his YouTube channel. In the 7-minute long video, Das could be seen delivering a monologue wherein he peddled anti-India propaganda under the garb of performing stand-up comedy.
There were several problematic aspects in Das’ gig in the United States, the foremost being an Indian comedian trying to project a patently wrong image of the country on a foreign soil, similar to that peddled by the Congress party over the years of India being the land of snake-charmers and quacks.
Das also hailed Barkha Dutt in his monologue, lavishing praises on her for her “real journalism”, even though she was accused of indulging in vulture journalism. During his monologue, Das also played the “religion card”, painting Hindus as intolerant and inherently antagonist towards Muslims.
He then raised aspersions on the integrity of PM Modi by propagating lies about the PM Cares Fund. The ‘comedian’ also raked up the Lakhimpur Kheri incident to spread one-sided narrative about the episode that led to the death of 9 people after a mob of farmers attacked BJP convoy with sticks and stones. In a part of the monologue, he said, “I come from an India where we worship women during the day and gang-rape them during the night.”
The mendacity of Vir Das in propagating fictional account of India with the use of distortions, mistruths and propaganda drew the ire of the social media users, who accused the actor-comedian of pushing an agenda to discredit the current regime under the pretext of a stand-up gig.
Vir Das slammed for objectifying women and using derogatory language against them
Amidst strident criticism of the video and complaints filed against him, Vir was forced to issue a clarification wherein he stated that monologue “I come from two Indias” weren’t intended to insult the country. However, the criticism directed at Vir Das highlighted the malaise prevalent in the Indian stand-up fraternity.
Soon after Vir Das’ abominable video started getting talked about on various social media platforms, several Twitter users pointed out how Vir, who insinuated in his monologue that India is a country of gang-rapists, was among those who openly objectified women through his tweets. They dredged up an old tweet by Vir Das where he was casually referring to women’s private parts.
In another instance, Vir Das was seen making derogatory remarks against West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee. “There is fire in my vagina,” said Das while mimicking Mamata Banerjee at a stand-up comedy event.
“There is Fire in Mamata Banerjee’s panty” – @thevirdas @MahuaMoitra is proud of him😭 pic.twitter.com/J1MwSqv54I
— squineon (@squineon) November 17, 2021
Another clip of his standup comedy where Das was mocking former UP Chief Minister and Dalit leader Mayawati.
Listen what @thevirdas is talking about @Mayawati. pic.twitter.com/gzIbaj7jpX
— Facts (@BefittingFacts) November 17, 2021
“Who else is running this country? F*cking Mayawati, man. I don’t hate Mayawati because she looks like a man. I don’t hate Mayawati because she sounds like a penguin with an Uttar Pradeshi accent. I hate Mayawati because somewhere I saw Mayawati with a garland of money and that pissed me off. Because she took to primal male fantasies, cleavage and money and combined them in the ugliest possible manner,” he said.
So you see, when the man who regularly objectifies women, especially politicians, in his own comedy gigs, when he takes a moral high ground and pontificates about ‘Indians gang-rape in the night’, it just reminds one of the popular dialogue from the 70s movies of ‘girebaan mein jhaank ke dekho‘.
The vices of Indian comic industry
As it turns out, Vir is not alone in the Indian stand-up fraternity to perpetuate sexually pervert behaviour and degrading women to their body parts. The Indian Comic scene is not as sincere and innocent as it seems. Though they have the tendency to take the moral high horse and preach Indians on everything under the sun, a cursory glance at their antecedents reveal they are not as honourable as they claim to be.
The rot lies deep and to the extent that it is endemic to the entire Indian comic industry. There are countless ‘comedians’, including the prominent ones, who are accused of not only cracking sexually depraved jokes but also of perpetrating sexual harassment.
Back in 2018, the #MeToo movement took India by storm and one comedian, Utsav Chakraborty, found himself mired in the eye of this raging storm. Several women came out to accuse Utsav of barging into their chats uninvited and making sexual overtures. A year later, after the frenzy around it had subsided, Utsav alleged that at least four of them were lying.
Nevertheless, the #MeToo movement was responsible for the downfall of quite a number of celebrities, most notably ‘comedians’. The movement finally brought to reckoning the comedians who pontificated on sexual misconduct in their stand-up act but later indulged in that same kind of perverse behaviour.
All India Bakchod co-founders Tanmay Bhat and Gursimran Khamba were asked to leave the organisation on account of their involvement and complicit behaviour in separate sexual harassment allegations. Subsequently, Bhat was asked to step away from the company and Khamba was put on indefinite leave. Bhat had admitted that he knew about Utsav’s predatory behaviour and sexual harassment while Khamba was himself accused of sexual harassment by an unidentified woman.
Following his fall from grace, several people on Twitter also shared an old tweet posted by Tanmay Bhat wherein he was seen expressing glee at the prospect of watching breasts of baby girls.
Propagandist who masquerades as ‘comedian’ Kunal Kamra was also among those who knew about Utsav Chakraborty’s behaviour but remained a mute spectator and condemned his behaviour only after several women came out in public and accused Utsav of sexually harassing them. On Twitter, Kunal shared a long-winded message, admitting to knowing about Utsav’s transgressions and not doing anything about it.
In February 2018, a popular name in the poetry circle, 24-year-old Shamir Reuben who regularly spoke on empowerment, gender equality and feminism, was accused of sexually harassing minors. And even then hardly anyone spoke up against ‘one of their own’.
Then in 2019, Hindustan Times columnist Mayank Soofi shared an image of a rotten orange on the website Instagram with a seemingly sexist caption. For the uninitiated, fruits like oranges are often used as ‘artistic symbol’ for a vagina. This half orange is used to imply how a ‘free woman’ who has had ‘many lovers’ would be like.
More recently, ‘comedian’ Sanjay Rajoura has been accused of sexual harassment by a woman in her early 20s. The woman has taken to Instagram to accuse the comedian of sexual abuse. Rajoura is a member of the comedy collective ‘Aisi Taisi Democracy’. Varun Grover was also accused of sexual harassment in 2018 by an anonymous woman. The comedian later categorically denied allegations levelled against him.
Besides all these, the Indian comic industry is also accused of perpetuating sexism and body shaming, with jokes cracked around these subjects becoming increasingly common and frequent. Many ‘woke comedians’ who regularly wax eloquent on women empowerment, gender equality and feminism find no compunction in making sexually explicit jokes against women or objectifying them during their gigs. And what’s even worse? They try to normalise such behaviour by arguing that they were made in jest, aimed at evoking laughter and humour.
How comedians hide behind the veil of “comedy” and “humour” to understate their depravity
This is the typical modus operandi adopted by ‘comedians’ who are confronted for their vile sexist remarks or comments. Most of them don’t even bother addressing criticism directed at their sexist or misogynist tweets. Those who do try to deflect the criticism by giving sanctimonious lecture that their “joke” was meant to create an awareness about the social evil.
In his clarification, Das said he did not mean to insult the nation, adding that his intention was to a serve as a reminder that the country, despite its issues, was “great.” This is illustrative of the disingenuous responses that comedians resort to after being called out for their tomfoolery. Just like Das claimed that his video was to show India was great despite its shortcomings, when comedians are confronted for their sexist comments or objectionable behaviour, they often hide behind the mask of “comedy” and “jokes” to escape the criticism.
Comedians like Vir Das give us an accurate insight into the mind of a typical liberal comedian, who has no qualms insulting the nation by hiding behind the veneer of “humour”, but will seek moral grandstanding when he is held to account for his transgressions. The average liberal comedian is a hypocrite of highest order, who has a habit of preaching sermons to the masses even though he himself might not be practicing it.
