The stand by comedy platform is slowly but steadily growing in our country thanks to the establishment of The Comedy Store in Mumbai and emergence of comedy clubs across the country. Many artists are getting well-known, albeit locally but one comedian who stands out from the rest in terms of popularity is Vir Das. Having acted in movies and worked on TV shows on zoOm and news channels, he has done over half a dozen stand up acts. His previous show, Walking On A Broken Das, was a major success. And now History of India – Viritten is all set to break the record of Broken Das. This is surely Vir Das’ moist successful act till date. And what’s more, it’s not only funny, it’s enlightening too!
As the name suggests, the act talks about the vast history of our country. The intro is provided by actor Kavi Shastri who starts from the time when life wasn’t even formed on our planet and how parts of land got separated from each other and emerged into present-day continents. This part of the show wasn’t bad as such but wasn’t entertaining enough. Still, kudos to Kavi for displaying apt comic timing! However, come Vir Das and the show turns into a riot! As soon as he entered, he targeted the latecomers who were trying to find their seats in the dark audi. He poked fun at them and even said, “Ohh…always good to see Delhiites”!
Vir then continues with the ‘history lessons’. Skipping the Sultanate part totally, he comes to the Mughals followed by British, national movement and finally the important events in our country post independence. If you think this will be boring and will remind you of the torturous time you had in school during the history lecture, then you are totally wrong! Vir Das presents the historical events as never before! This doesn’t mean he degrades the legendary or historical figures! Nope! He pokes fun at the events rather than characters and even compares to the present day events (compared the British’ Divide-and-rule policy with Anil Ambani-Mukesh Ambani feud!).
The first half of the 90-minute show deals with the pre-independence era while the second half takes off from the events that happened post-1947. And it was the 2nd hour where the laughs and claps went on and on as his jokes became funnier and more relatable too. Watch out for his awesome lines about Sanjay Gandhi’s family planning, dwindling population of Parsis, Mahabharat and the once-popular Maruti 800!
As with any drama/act, the jokes are constantly upgraded/removed and History of India – Viritten is no exception. Few websites where I read reviews of History of India – Viritten mentions about the questionable dressing style of Mughal kings, how the British won India through the violent use of flags and how the Lodhi dynasty’s greatest victory was a flower garden – all that was missing in my show. But in our show, Vir Das spoke about ‘how people were ashtonished when Gandhi went on a fast for 5 days…nowadays, everyone does it though’, a punchline certainly added very recently!
The show however is a success thanks to Vir Das. His comic timings and antiques on stage are to die for! You start laughing the minute he opens his mouth! I was amused that people went he-he when he simply stated “Humayun died after falling from stairs”! His comic timing in incomparable indeed!
Any cons? Well…not really. As with any stand up act, there’s lot of adult humour thrown in. Hence, History of India – Viritten is a strict no-no for the purists. However, you might still end up laughing because of Vir’s terrific presentation and also for the manner in which 2 totally drastic events get compared in front of you! And secondly, the rates are simply too much. My ticket cost Rs. 500 and it was the cheapest ones! The costliest ones were Rs. 1500…in some audis, it goes upto Rs. 2000! This can be unaffordable for many and it will be great if prices can be brought down.
But nevertheless, the show is highly recommended for all lovers of stand up comedy! A lot of research is gone to put up the act and also a lot of creativity and wittiness is utilized in writing the dialogues! And it’s great to see the makers are getting to enjoy its fruits. After all, every show is getting sold out in few days after advance booking commencement! If the skyhigh rates don’t matter to you, do go for this one…you surely wont be disappointed!
Stand Up…for your country!