We need laughter: Vir Das weaponises his art form to fight Covid

There’s no way to escape the gloominess of the present reality, and Vir Das doesn’t even want to try and run away from it. The actor-comedian is, instead, trying to weaponise his art form to raise funds and support the country in its fight against Covid-19.

Cooped up indoors, Das is utilising his time to make people “laugh and reflect” on the hard truth and find ways to contribute to the healthcare battle.

“I’ve lost people in the second wave, everybody I know has lost someone. [But] we need laughter. It doesn’t stop us from laughing or trying to make each other laugh,” he continues, “I’m just one man, and all I have is jokes. I’m doing the most I can with that.”

From deaths to the government’s failure, Das is touching upon various facets of the crisis through his comedy, and says it “felt irresponsible to talk about anything else”.

Earlier this month, the actor-comedian raised ₹7 lakh through his show, Vir Das At Home, but he doesn’t like to talk much about it. “The only thing I can say is that people who are blessed with a large social media following like I am, should weaponise their platform and art forms for

Almost 98% of the population aren’t going to work or, have their jobs in jeopardy. If people who come from a do place of privilege won’t their job at this moment, who will?

VIR DAS, Actor-comedian

raising awareness and funds,” emphasises Das, who is actively working on his TenOnTen series.

Last year, too, he used his craft for the society’s welfare and managed to raise over ₹37 lakh by doing virtual gigs during the lockdown. “I’m just trying to acknowledge the responsibility that I have, which is to do my job. I feel blessed and fortunate that I can do it all from my house,” he says, adding, “If people who come from a place of privilege won’t do their job at this moment, then who will? Almost 98% of the population in different professions aren’t going to work or, have their jobs in jeopardy. And if I can sell 2,000 tickets sitting at my desk, I owe it to pay forward all the proceeds.”

For Das, comedy isn’t just a laughing matter, it is also his coping mechanism. “I’m part of the 2% who are getting to do their job right now; I want to make sure it counts for something,” he shares.

According to him, baby steps have the power to lead to big things.

“Helping one person is better than helping none. Look at how people have used social media for the good. In an environment where they could not count on the government, they have counted on each other. It happens one by one,” the 41-year-old signs off.