‘I want to keep writing love letters to my country’: Vir Das reacts to ‘Two Indias’ monologue controversy

Actor and comedian Vir Das, who found himself in the middle of controversies after he dropped a video titled ‘I Come from Two Indias’ on his YouTube channel, opened up about the monologue and said that he will continue to write ‘love letters for the country.’

Recently, in the nearly seven-minute-long video that he uploaded, Vir Das was heard talking about the duality of the country, heard delivering a monologue about the contradictions within India. He talked about topical issues India is grappling with, including the battle against COVID-19. He mentioned how Bollywood divides the nation on Twitter, ironically unites the audience in the theatres. Not only this, he further talked about the women who are worshipped in the day, gang-raped at night.  

As soon as his video surfaced, the comedian started receiving hate and criticism over the video clip that was from his stand-up performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Netizens demanded strict action against him, a complaint was also filed against him for making ‘derogatory statements against India’. Now, the actor has finally reacted to the ongoing controversy. 

In an interview with NDTV, Vir said, “A comedian puts out satire and if it’s the good of the country and the bad of the country ending in the good of the country… I think that’s something that you should want to come together in - I can’t expect what happens when I put out a piece of content… It’s jokes. It’s not in my hands.”

He further stated that this will not change anything, he will continue to write the jokes. Vir said, “I have made my country laugh for 10 years now. I have devoted my life to writing about my country. We are here at the Emmys because I wrote a love letter to my country. As long as I am able to do my comedy, I want to keep writing love letters to my country."

Referring to the video, he said, “I think laughter is a celebration. When laughter and applause fill up a room, that's a moment of pride. Any Indian who has a sense of humour, understands satire, or watches my entire video, knows that's what happened in that room.”