Vir Das’ latest production Battle of Da Sexes finally comes here after successful shows in Mumbai. The wit master informs Iknoor Kaur that the act is a scientific comedy
Did you know that women read up to nine books a year while men only read fiveIJ Or have you ever heard of something called mirror neurons in our brain which enable us to enjoy fiction and that women have 25 per cent more of these mirror neurons than men — which is why more women are fiction readers and more men are non-fiction readersIJ These are some facts that Vir Das shared with us while talking about his production Battle of Da Sexes. It will be showcased on February 9 at Sirifort Auditorium.
Directed by Ashwin Gidwani and written and performed by Das, the show is a battle between men and women. However, the wit master describes it as a scientific comedy. He says, “This act chronicles the differences between men and women but from a scientific point of view. It begins with the sexes’ approach towards language, goes onto analysing their bodies and spots the differences between their vanities. Then it progresses into literature, music, movies and covers leadership, politics, business, crime, sex and commitment. The show is laced with scientific facts.”
Having performed the play several times in Mumbai, Das has received raving reviews. An interesting part of the act is that the audience is divided in blues and pinks. WhyIJ “First, I wanted to see if a couple could and would do it. Also I feel that there are a lot of things one would not laugh at in front of their partners. However, they would laugh sitting in the opposite end of the room with a group of people from the same sex,” says Das adding that this attempt to make (or break) couples played cupid to many. “In Mumbai, it became a great date show because there was no pressure for the boy and girl to sit together. There are only two things that can happen to anyone with this show — they’ll either destroy their love life or meet the love of their life,” he quips.
There is also a winner, between the two sexes, at the end of the show which changes with every performance, says Das. “We have done about eight shows in Mumbai and I think women have won five and men have won three so far. There is a format to the show which determines who the winner is in the end and it totally depends on the kind of audience,” he explains.
The idea for this show was in Das’ mind for almost five years till he finally executed it. “A show has a lot of reading and writing behind it as well. For Battle of Da Sexes I was pulling out Biology and Psychology textbooks. I didn’t get into the whole idea of ‘men are from Mars and women are from Venus’ thing. I feel it all boils down to science,” he says.
Das doesn’t limit himself. That is why he doesn’t only do stage shows but also performs in his comedy rock band Alien Chutney and acts in Bollywood films. However, he feels that doing so many things puts him at a disadvantage. He elaborates, “I’ve written enough material and the audience has seen me a lot. Thus, now they are expecting to be surprised. I’m doing around 2,500-3,000 people a show and everybody has seen me three to four times before. So I don’t have the luxury to write jokes anymore like other comedians. I have to stay thematic and come up with unique concepts.”
Das has also received a lot of criticism when it comes to his comedy. But he says, “The fact that Indians get offended so easily makes my comedy easier. Nobody wants to live in a boring country where everything is acceptable and everyone is well-behaved. Also the fact that everything changes in this country on a weekly basis and that the chief minister is sleeping outside his WagonR makes India an exciting country for comedians.”
After Go Goa Gone, Das will now be seen in Shaadi Ke Side Effects. “The director didn’t have me in the script initially. He came to my office one day and said, ‘I want to work with you so how do we do thisIJ’ So I said that I’ll come into the film but on two conditions — you will let me create the role from scratch and call it ‘a senseless appearance by Vir Das’. So basically that is what my credit is in the film. We didn’t write any lines for my character. I just showed up on sets for 20 days and made it up as we went along,” he laughs.
Das has five releases this year — Revolver Rani with Kangna Ranaut, Santa Banta with Boman Irani, Khanna Patel with Rishi Kapoor and Amit Sahni Ki list.