The actor-comedian to co-produce a black comedy with filmmaker Nikkhil Advani that goes on the floors shortly and features him in the titular role of a serial killer
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 30, 2018)

Vir Das is set to foray into film production with a dark comedy titled Hasmukh. Co-produced by Nikkhil Advani, the film will feature the actor-comedian in the titular role of a serial killer. “There haven’t been many Hindi films that tackle dark humour. Nikkhil and I had been discussing this idea since the last two-and-a-half years. Now, we are developing the film and it should roll soon,” Vir told Mirror.

He goes on to joke that it will be a detour for him of sorts as his character in the film is struggling with several things. “Maybe I’ll flashback to my first two-three years in comedy, when none of my shows were working, to play the part. We will shoot the film all over India,” Vir informed, adding that he is also working on two other projects, the first of which, a madcap comedy titled Happy Patel Khatarnaak Jasoos, is also being produced by him. “India needs a bumbling spy comedy in the Austin Powers and You Don’t Mess with Zohan zone. I’m also doing another film by the year-end, which is in the Delhi Belly zone. It’s a two-boy story about one night in Gujarat. It’s backed by an A-list production house but I can’t reveal names as yet.”

Vir, who was last seen in Ajay Devgn’s Shivaay in 2016, said he is glad that the audience has become more receptive to offbeat content. “The mindset has changed. People aren’t just looking at actors as stars but as content creators. I really admire (American actor-comedian) Kevin Hart, who is a standup comedian as well as an A-list Hollywood star. That’s because he had a large fan base that was spending money on his shows and he just brought them over to films,” he signs off.