India’s like a joint family and I am the cook: Vir Das

Actor and comedian Vir Das along with his next film’s leading lady Neha Dhupia visited The Asian Age office.The result was a lively afternoon filled with guffaws.

Two desi private detectives and a lovely lady fly down to Fiji to solve an intriguing case. What could possible go wrong Everything, say Vir Das and Neha Dhupia, whose upcoming film Santa Banta Pvt Ltd’s plot is as funny and honest as the duo. The two actors came down to the Asian Age office to taste our misal pav and strong coffee (And also to promote their film) and sat down for a conversation on work, life and everything in the middle.

Both of you have dabbled in different mediums of entertainment. How do you choose your work Neha: I think turning 30 completely changed my outlook on life. I’ve just become my own person. And I want to do anything, whether it is dancing at a wedding, doing a feature film or hosting a show, if it gives me happiness.

Vir: My outlook is to do as much as I can. To use a very bad analogy, I think India, as a whole, is like a big joint family and I am the cook. So there will always be different kinds of people in a joint family; There’ll be a grumpy Buwaji, or a Kakaji or a little kid and I have to feed them all according to their tastes. That’s why I want to do as many different things as possible. Vir, you’re known to be one of Bollywood’s leading funny men. But how funny is Vir in real life and how different is he from the guy on the stage or on the screen Vir: The Vir Das you see on stage is extremely confident. He can crack the filthiest jokes and pull it off. But in personal space, I am just a simple ‘nice’ guy and not the funny guy you usually see. I think more than anyone, my wife knows this the best. And a lot of times people walk up to me and expect me to be funny and that’s the curse of being a comedian and my standard reply is ‘go buy a ticket’ (Laughs). I am not the kind of guy who is always funny. Neha, from a model and former Miss India, you have come a long way too... Neha: Seventeen years I’ve been wearing make-up and going on camera and my dad still calls me from time to time and asks me when I am going to get a real job. (Laughs) I am not the kind of person, who really plans things or looks at life in terms of career prospects. I mean I’ve done a lot already and going forward, I only want to do things that make me happy.

You have both done serious as well as goofy cinema. (Vir’s 31st October is slowly gathering steam and Neha’s Moh Maya Money is already going places (It was selected as part of the New York Film Festival). How different are the two experiences Vir: So in my early twenties, I started out as an actor. I studied at drama school and wanted to act, and stand up was just something that happened to me. So doing 31st October for me was like hooking up with my ex-girlfriend. About why I took it up, I think it was because of one of my previous films Revolver Rani, which was a very dark film. It was only after Revolver Rani that I started getting offers for more serious films and 31st October was one of them.

Neha: I just got the news this week that Moh Maya Money, which I am doing with Ranvir Shorey has been selected for New York Film Festival and with this film, it’s the same team that I have worked with previously in Ankhon Dekhi — Rajat (Kapoor), Ranvir and everyone else and sometimes you want to do a film just for the people you’ll be working with.

So what made you choose to do Santa Banta Neha: I don’t know. I think I basically took it up because it was three months in Fiji and I thought it’d be good for my lungs. But as I said, it is also the people I’ll be working with.

Vir: There are times when you do a film just because it’s fun and for the sake of the people who are involved in it. I think Akash (Director) has done a great job in bringing this team together. Imagine having Boman Irani, Johnny Lever and so many other amazing actors on the same team. People (Especially the media) tend to over analyse why we take up films. But they don’t understand that doing a film is also three months of your life and you don’t want to spend that time with as$#@les.

Tell us about your exploits outside films. Vir: I have about five releases lined up in the next 18 months. But outside of films, I just finished a very successful tour of the US and there’s also an album for our band Alien Chutney we’ve been working on. I continue to do my show at the Tata Theatre. Basically, I’ve been doing everything I wanted to do when I was young — be it starting a band or doing crazy stuff like the ‘potcast’.

Neha: The first thing is Roadies, which was a beautiful experience. I think going to the mountains again, did so much good for my lungs (Laughs). But really, a couple of things I saw on the show really changed me. One was to see all those young people, who are completely fearless, who are willing to do anything and go the distance and the other one was meeting this girl — an acid attack victim who came for the auditions. She was abused, attacked with acid and locked into a room for two years by her own husband. And I think her story was something that completely changed me. Apart from that I am also doing some writing. It is not a script for a film, but it is too early to talk more about it.