From: Business of Cinema (Mumbai, India)
Bollywood’s first-ever zom-com, or zombie comedy, ‘Go Goa Gone’ is all set to hit theatres this weekend [opening May 10 in India]. And [2002 Knox grad] Vir Das revealed that he loved doing improv while shooting ‘Go Goa Gone’.
“All credit to my directors Raj and DK who allowed me to go all the way,” said Vir. “I want to do things differently and based on my act on stage, I know that 9 out of 10 times it would work for a film as well. I am an actor who loves to improvise and one thing that I love most is to deliver my lines differently.”…
“When I came to India, there was no audience for stand-up comedians. Still, I managed to create some market for that. Now same holds good for a zomcom like ‘Go Goa Gone’….” Read more…
Update on opening day coverage… Times of India: ” Vir Das and Kunal Khemu are hilarious characters and share perfect comic chemistry.” … Koimoi Inside Bollywood: “an unabashedly crazy film with Vir Das and Kunal Khemu delivering super performances.”
From: Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India)
In Chandigarh [India] to play Banta in the upcoming Hindi film, Santa Banta, Vir [Das] gets talking about taking respite in comedy and turning jokes with double meaning into a heavy dose of humour.
Born in Dehradun and raised in Africa, Vir’s father is a farmer, mother a wildlife enthusiast and sister was a documentary maker. Finding Nigera unsafe to live in, Vir went to the US, where he started pursuing a degree in economics from Knox College, Illinois. “One day, I took an acting class and my mentor told me to do theatre instead of economics. For four years continuously, I did theatre, mostly dark roles. Since these were turning me insane, I started doing stand-up comedy as almost a rebellion,” he says… Read more…
From: MSN - Entertainment India
[2002 Knox graduate] Vir Das is pictured at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards India. More photos…
“Touted as India’s answer to Jay Leno and the funniest guy in India,” Das and Imran Khan co-hosted India’s first-ever MTV Video Music Awards, broadcast on March 23.
Das also has his own theatre production company, Weirdass Repertory, that produces both spoofs of big international films as well as “high-content plays,” Das told a newspaper earlier in 2013. “I want to bring back the lost culture of watching plays.” More about Wierdass Repertory…
From: Hindustan Times (New Delhi, India)
[2002 Knox College graduate and] ace comedian Vir Das will co-host the upcoming MTV Video Music Awards India (VMAI). The duo [Das, at left in photo, and Imran Khan, center] that left the audiences in splits with their histrionics in [the 2011 film] Delhi Belly, make for great hosts. The VMAI organisers thought that it would be perfect to have them anchor the first Indian edition of the awards. Apparently, what helped also was the fact that the two have a good record of playing hosts in the past…
Vir confirms the news, “In India, award ceremonies follow strict formats, certain rules and regulations. So [our] idea is to break that pattern.”… Adds Imran, “Vir [and I] had a blast while shooting the movie and so I am sure this time around as well it will be a riot and I hope the audiences enjoy us on stage.”… Read more…
From: ArtsPartners: Arts Happening (Peoria, IL)
Knox College Theatre presents The Green Bird and The Caucasian Chalk Circle, February 28-March 9. Read more…
