Bollywood
Vir Das on spreading smiles amid COVID-19 crisis
New Delhi, April 21 (IANS) Actor-comedian Vir Das wants to spread smiles to raise funds amid the COVID-19 crisis, and he believes in fighting back with a sense of humor.## Vir is raising funds through his special "Vir Das At Home" gigs, where he performs for an audience online. The funds raised from the shows go to different causes.## Asked about the need to spread laughter, Vir told IANS: "What's the alternative?"## "That's the way I look at it. I get a fair amount of hatred every day on Twitter. I have lots of people telling me ‘oh you are an anti-national', you are insensitive, inappropriate, disrespectful… I respond by asking ‘what's the alternative'. Is the alternative not to smile? Is the alternative not to crack the joke? Is the alternative not to laugh? I don't think it is a good alternative in these times," he added.## Vir continued: "Right now you have two choices -- You can let coronavirus get you down or you can fight back with your sense of humor. I chose option B.## Vir, who is seen in Netflix's web show "Hasmukh", says that he is "digging" the lockdown period.## "We recently announced six shows and the proceeds of all the shows will go to different charities. I am spending my time trying to raise money to battle the virus… When you donate, it's a start and you can continue it by raising more money. So, I am trying to raise as much money as I can," he said.## For the comedy special, he sits in front of a computer and connects with his audiences.## "Nobody likes sitting in front of a computer for one hour. It's not the ideal environment. But it has raised money, and I will continue doing that," he stressed.## On the work front, the actor is currently seen in the Netflix series, "Hasmukh", which he has co-created and written with Nikkhil Advani.## "Hasmukh" is about an ambitious comic who realizes that the only way he can "kill it on stage" is if he "kills off stage".## Talking about the challenges he faced while working on the show, Vir said: "The challenge was to convince people to let me do a show like this. I don't think had I not written it, I would get to be a part of it in this capacity as a leader of the show.## "I had to create the opportunity. What helped was that I did a short film with Milap Zaveri titled ‘Raakh'. That was dark. So, when that came out and got a good response, then I thought that it was a good time to go out in the market with an idea like that."## Stay tuned...
