Aaj English TV

Thursday, November 07, 2024  
04 Jumada Al-Awwal 1446  

Indian comic's “Two Indias” set continues to divide Twitter

Video of Vir Das's monologue has amassed four million views in less than a week
Like any nation that has light and dark, good and evil within it. None of this is a secret, said Das. Screenshot
Like any nation that has light and dark, good and evil within it. None of this is a secret, said Das. Screenshot

Indian actor and comedian Vir Das continues to garner criticism and support over his stand-up performance in Washington DC. The artist performed a monologue titled 'I come from two Indias', which was a satirical take on the duality of India’s national consciousness.

The almost seven-minute set highlighted several serious issues including rape culture, Islamophobia, journalism, jingoism among others.

The video, which was uploaded on the comedian's YouTube channel on November 15, has already garnered over 4 million views. It has also received close to 75,000 comments, with nearly half a million people giving it a thumbs up while another 75,000 expressed their disapproval of the vide with a thumbs down.

The set starts with Vir Das introducing himself and saying, “I come from India. I come from which India? I come from two Indias.”

“I come from an India where children wearing masks hold hand with each other, and yet I come from an India where leaders hug each other without masks,” he said.

Speaking about the rape culture in the country Das said, “I come from an India where we worship women during the day and gang-rape them during the night.”

Talking about Indian’s historic rivalry with Pakistan, specifically on and off the cricket field, Das said, “I come from an India where we bleed blue every time we play green but every time we lose to green we turn orange all of a sudden.” He used both the cricket teams uniform colors as reference, the color orange refers to Hindu nationalism which is symbolised by the color saffron.

Das came under fire as soon as he posted the video on social media. While some people lauded his performance, many called out the comedian for ‘insulting’ India.

Some users on Twitter shared their own versions of “I come from an India.”

This user lauded Das’s bravery for calling it as he sees it.

Indian editorial cartoonist created a piece for Das.

Indian journalist Nidhi Razdan said in a tweet that reaction to Das’s comedy set shows how insecure India gets as nation.

Many people criticized Das’s take on India.

One person called him a “white collared terrorist.”

Another said that “Generalising the evils of a few individuals and vilifying the nation as a whole in front of the world is just not done!”

After receiving backlash, the comedian took to Twitter to present a clarification on the purpose of the video.

“It ends in a gigantic patriotic round of applause for a country we all love, believe in and are proud of. That there is more to our country than the headlines, a deep beauty. That's the point of the video and the reason for the applause,” he wrote.

For the latest news, follow us on Twitter @Aaj_Urdu. We are also on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Islamophobia