Vir Das: ‘Aamir gives you money to shoot five scenes first’

Turning director with the spy comedy ‘Happy Patel’, International Emmy winner Vir Das breaks down producer Aamir Khan’s rigorous process of sharpening a film with mock shoots and 30 test screenings
Priyanka Sharma (MID-DAY; January 16, 2026)

‘What the hell have you made?’ That is a question Vir Das admittedly heard frequently at a recent screening of Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos. “That is good feedback. Everybody seemed to be laughing,” said the actor and International Emmy-winning comedian, who has turned director with the spy comedy.

The idea of Happy Patel lurked in Das’s mind for almost 15 years. It needed the right time and the right producer. The actor got lucky on the second count. “After writing the script, I called Aamir [Khan] sir and said, ‘I’ve got this mad movie. You might be the only person who will produce it.’ He called me in. Keep in mind, I hadn’t spoken to him since Delhi Belly [2011].”

The superstar liked the script, but he needed Das and co-director Kavi Shastri to follow a process. First came a series of narrations. “There are five-six narrations with Aamir sir, during which he asks questions like ‘What is the story? What are the characters? What do they want?’ Once you’ve done that, he gives you a bit of money and makes you shoot five scenes of the movie. When we showed those scenes — graded, colour corrected, edited — to him, he greenlit the film,” recalled Das. 

Khan’s involvement as a producer didn’t end there. He held around 30 test screenings. “After the second cut, he held screenings for people of different age groups and demographics. He told them, ‘Tell us what’s wrong with the movie. No praise allowed.’ [Based on that], we did our third and fourth cut.” 

Even though the process was extensive, it was rewarding for Das. The actor and director shared, “The win is learning how to make a film from Aamir Khan. I wish every bhatkoing artiste finds the creative lighthouse that is Aamir.”

What’s ‘Pathaan’ got to do with it?
The idea of ‘Happy Patel’ struck Das, a fan of spy comedies like ‘Johnny English’, in 2009. But he had to wait as the Indian audience hadn’t woken up to spy films then.

“Culture has to be mainstream for comedy to counter it. So, I had to wait for ‘Tiger’, ‘Pathaan’ [2023], and ‘Dhurandhar’ [2025] to happen. Amogh Ranadive [co-writer] and I wrote the script in the month ‘Pathaan’ released,” said Das.