Netflix is serious about India. We know.
Of the many content partnerships it has formed locally, a solo show with popular stand-up comedian Vir Das is now ready to stream.
The ‘comedy special’ Abroad Understanding marks the debut of an Indian original production on Netflix worldwide.
Here’s the trailer.
Now, this is indeed special.
Vir Das, who’s a pioneering force in the English language comedy scene in India besides being wildly popular with the diaspora, is the first desi artist to get his own show on Netflix.
He joins celebrated comedians Kevin Hart, Louis CK, Aziz Ansari, Chris Rock, Bo Burnham, Bill Burr and Russel Peters to perform on Netflix Stand-Up Comedy Specials.
And Das is mighty chuffed about it.
“It is an opportunity of a lifetime. Netflix is immediately giving us a big, scale-able platform and we are piggybacking on their credibility,” Das tells Mashable.
He continues: “Indian comedy has never had as big an audience. An authentically Indian comedy has never reached the world. We’ve always been looking at India in terms of funny accents and habits and so on. We have always been a punchline and not a perspective.”
And that’s going to change. Soon.
Image: YOUTUBE SCREENGRAB
Das filmed his special in the presence of 12,000-plus crowds in New York and New Delhi. And the reactions, he says, have been flattering.
“Until now we’ve had Americans making fun of Indians in America. Now, we’ll have an Indian making fun of Americans in America. And they’ll laugh,” he says.
Abroad Understanding touches upon racism, homophobia, social injustice and everything else that concerns the modern world. It will stream across 100 countries April 25 onward.
We’re waiting to LOL.
