Vir Das Net Worth: World’s Most Expensive Actor

“I come from an India where we take pride in being vegetarians, and yet run over the farmers who grow our vegetables…” Does this remind you of something?

 You would have heard this line, and you might know about the writer of this line too. A standup comedian, an actor who is part of both Hollywood and Bollywood, a YouTuber, a singer, and a Writer about whom this piece is, nobody else but Vir Das.

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He is the person who gave up his corporate job and instead took up odd jobs to pursue his acting passion. He now has his own bands, runs his own production house, and has also married the love of his life. Isn’t his life a Bollywood movie? You are excited to know more about his life, aren’t you? Then dive right into Vir Das’s Biography and tour his life’s journey till now.

Vir Das Wiki/Bio

Vir Das was born in Dehradun, India, on May 31, 1979. His parents are Ranu Das and Madhur Das. He was born in India but raised in Nigeria and India. His family moved to Nigeria, Africa, in 1981, when he was just 1 year old. His father worked as a manager at a poultry farm in Uttar Pradesh. Later, he was employed by a Nigerian food processing company in Lagos. His mother was a teacher.

He used to visit his parents in Lagos during the Holidays. There his family lived in a well-guarded compound with seven houses. Due to the disturbed law and order situation in Africa, Government suggested the Indians not leave their homes. As a result, Vir spent his time indoors watching movies. His family left Africa and returned to India when the political and financial conditions started worsening in Africa; he was 16 years old then.

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He has an elder sister named Trisha. Vir Das is four years younger than his Sister. Trisha is a documentary filmmaker and a published author. Vir even mentioned in one of his shows that his grandfather was a Padma Shree awardee from Bengal. The Republic of India’s fourth-highest civilian honour is the Padma Shree. He married his wife Shivani Mathur after they had been together for five years. He tied the knot with her in October 2014. Shivani Mathur owns an event management company. The couple country lives in Pali Hill, Mumbai, in a three-bedroom apartment.

Vir Das Education

He went to Indian Language School in Lagos, Nigeria. As for the fact that he shifted countries, he attended multiple boarding schools. He went to the Lawrence School, Sanawar, in India, at 9. Then he got admitted to Delhi Public School, Noida.

Also read: Education and career of Abhishek Upmanyu.

 During his School days, he actively participated in the co-curricular activities hosted in Schools, like sports, debates, and drama. However, he wasn’t very good at Academics. He first became aware of his oratory abilities at the age of 12. He grabbed the microphone and cracked a joke during the debate interjection round.

He attended Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, for 18th months, after which he left for the United States. In the US, he got admitted to Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, and earned a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Theatre. Vir got a scholarship that covered most of his college fees for the theatre course. Still, a part of it was left. Vir’s father asked him to do a double major if he wanted him to pay the remaining fees. He even played the Guitar on the streets sometimes to earn money.

He couldn’t perform well at Knox because he felt exhausted due to the tough acting program. This made him realize that he didn’t want to make his career in acting but in Standup comedy, as he wanted a more free-flowing career. Soon after graduating from Knox College, he was selected for Harvard University’s and Moscow Art Theatre’s joint Stanislavsky program.  

Nick Name	Vir
Date Of Birth	31 May 1979
Birthplace	Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India
Age	44 years (in 2023)
Blood Group	Not Known
Current Address	Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Educational Qualification	Graduate in Economics & Theatre
School Name	Indian Language School, Lagos, Nigeria The Lawrence School, Sanawar, Himachal Pradesh Delhi Public School, Delhi
Popular For	His controversial statement in Standup Comedy at Kennedy Centre, USA
College Name	Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois
Language Known	Hindi & English
Profession	Actor & Comedian
Debut in Film	Bollywood Film: Mumbai Salsa (2007)

Career of Vir Das

After he graduated from Knox, Vir Das started working at a bank. But later dropped his finance job to pursue theatre. As a result, he had to pick up various odd jobs, such as dishwasher, banquet bartender, and security guard, while simultaneously pursuing his acting and standup comedy career.

Vir Das quickly established himself as a corporate comic and started making a respectable living after hosting the late-night program aimed at businesspeople. He made the decision to pursue comedy full-time in 2007. As a result, he gave up his job and started to perform with his standup routine, “Walking on Broken Das,” in 2007.

In 2003, Vir Das started his theatre and standup comedy career with a gig in New Delhi at a Habitat Centre. After that, he got to host a lot of Times Food Guide Awards, and he also got the offer to host two tv shows on Zoom, through which he entered the world of TV Shows.

The name of these tv shows was “Is Route Ki Sabhin Linein Maast Hain” and “Ek Rahin Vir.” The latter one was the late-night standup comedy show. He also appeared as a host on the show “Top Drive- Getaway,” which premiered on Star World.

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Since the start of his TV career to till date, Vir Das has appeared on numerous comedic television programs such as Cricket Firsts, a sports comedy show that premiered on Zee Sports( now aired on TEN Action+), Lo Kar Ko Baat, premiered on SAB TV, The Great Indian Comedy Show, premiered on STAR ONE. 

Standup Comedy

He analyzed that his corporate shows are getting a good response. This made him quit his job in 2007 and take standup comedy as his full-time job. His first standup comedy performance was titled “Walking on Broken Glass.” To get more exposure, he created a DVD of one of his standup comedy sets labeled “Viagra” and distributed copies to various video libraries. To his luck, his video came to the notice of Indian Filmmakers Aditya Chopra and Aamir Khan’s Production. And thus began his acting career in Bollywood in 2013. He also created his Youtube channel and has uploaded many of his comedy videos on the platform, and he continues to do so.

Bollywood

Vir Das entered Bollywood after passing two auditions when Aditya Chopra and Aamir Khan Productions encountered his DVD named “Viagra,” which featured his standup comedy. He secured his first role in Bollywood as a junior artist in a film featuring Rishi Kapoor. 

But this was just the beginning; he auditioned for various films in the next six weeks and was selected for Badmash Company(2010) and Delhi Belly (2011). His debut film was “Namastey London,” his role was of a Potential Groom No. 2, a Hyderabad-based statistician who is obsessively mad over it.

In Badmaash Company, he played the role of “Chandu.” The story was based in 1994, when three young middle-class boys named “Karan, Zing, and Chandu” after their graduation, go on a trip to Bangkok, Thailand. In Thailand, they established a business with Bulbul, whom they met there.

The MOvie which helped him in getting his much-deserved attention was Delhi Belly. It was released in 2011, where he played the protagonist, Arup, a cartoonist. 

The plot of this action-based movie is about three roommates, Nitin, Arup, and Tashi, who unknowingly get caught in the trap of the ruthless gangster.

He also acted in the film “Go Goa Gone,” an action comedy film released in 2013. The public really liked Luv’s role in the movie, which was played by Vir Das. Unfortunately, the movie disappointed me at the box office. Next year he starred in a film titled “Shaadi ke Side Effects. He played the role of Manav, a drug addict bachelor who doesn’t care about anything in life. In 2016, he appeared 

in the films Mastizaade,’ ‘Santa Banta Pvt Ltd,’ and’ 31 October.’ “31 October,” which is set in 1984, revolves around a Sikh man named Devender Singh (played by Vir Das) and his family, who find themselves in danger as a result of Indira Gandhi’s assassination, which sparks widespread fierce violence against Sikhs.

Television

Vir Das stepped into his acting career in 2006 with his debut in an American adventure fantasy film, “The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb.”  

In 2008, he got a recurring role in the British Indian comedy series “Mumbai Calling” as a call center operator. The show was premiered on ITV, a Free British Television Network. Later, it aired on ABC TV, an Australian public Television Network. The year 2019 brought him the role of an FBI agent named Jai Datta in the Whiskey Cavalier show. Next year, he got to act in the episode “The Magic Motor Inn” of an American sitcom titled “Fresh Off the Boat.” He got the role of DC, an Indian Immigrant, alongside Preity Zinta, a Bollywood Actress. Vir and Preity played the parents of a girl related to the show’s protagonist as a schoolmate.

OTT

Vir Das’s OTT debut was in 2017 from a Netflix standup special called” Abroad Understanding.” He was listed among Variety’s “10 Comics to Watch for 2017” list for the Netflix special. His standup specials For India (2020), Vir Das: Outside In (2020), and Losing It (2018) are all available on Netflix.

In the year 2019, he made an appearance on “Destination Uknown,” where he traveled along with his friends to get to know more about the humor of Indian people. The show was aired on Amazon Prime Videos.

He played the titular role in “Hasmukh,” an Indian Dark comedy tv series distributed by Netflix. The show was about a comedian who belongs to a small town and is also a serial killer.

Music

Vir Das formed a band around 2011-12; he named it Alien Chutney. It’s a comedy rock band and is his brainchild. The band produces offbeat songs that cover various topics, such as tributes to Himesh, the difference between Delhi and Bombay girls, the key to good love with your vegetable grocer, Parsi love songs, pop songs, and death metal songs. Sidd Coutto, Apurv Isaac Kaizad Gherda, and Johan Pais are other band members. They have performed at multiple venues, for example, Lodhi Gardens, Delhi; India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; Blue Frog, Mumbai. He has also performed Star World’s New Year Special “RIPping the Decade with Vir Das.” The first album of Alien Chutney, comprised of 13 tracks, came out in 2015 and was titled “Bom in Live Bay.”

Others

He also owns a production house under the name “Weirdass Comedy.” It is the first and foremost comedy consultancy in India. Meets the demand for comic content solutions for TV and digital platforms for different companies and independently generates original content. And not to forget, he is also the creator of one of the largest comedy festivals in India, “Weirdass Pajama Festival.”

He portrayed the lead character in the 2016 “Raakh,” a short crime drama. The short film is about a guy who, brokenhearted by his wife’s murder, seeks retribution against the person who sexually assaulted and killed her. In 2016 Vir Das also appeared in the deodorant advertisement “He,” the highlight was portraying how women are objectified to promote different products in the advertising industry.

Vir Das Net Worth | Net Worth of Vir Das

Vir Das’s main income sources are his standup shows, acting projects, Youtube channel, and brand promotions. Although the standup comedian Vir Das has never revealed his monthly earning or net worth, it’s estimated to be around $2 million as of 2023.

Also read: Anubhav Singh Bassi Net Worth.

Vir Das Controversy

With Fame comes controversies. It’s like they go hand in hand. Hence, no doubt that Vir Das, too, has been a victim of this.

● In 2015. Vir Das cracked a joke during one of his standup comedy shows, which he performed in Siri Fort Auditorium, New Delhi. In his standup show, Vir Das cracked a joke on Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the former president of India. Someone from the audience called the Police and made a complaint about it. The Police barged into the mid of the show. However, he was not the subject of any complaints.

● A complaint was made in 2020 to remove his Netflix series “Hasmukh” for supposedly defaming lawyers. Ashutosh Dubey, an attorney, filed the complaint alleging that lawyers were referred to as thieves, scoundrels, goons, and rapists in the show’s fourth episode.

● In 2021, during one of his shows, Vir Das presented in front of the audience a poem composed by him which was titled “Two Indias,” performed at the John F. Kennedy Center, Washington DC, on 15 November. He shared a 7-minute-long video of the same on Youtube. While some took this as a fair representation of India, others didn’t, and this stirred up some heated debate on the same, making Vir Das the centre of it. Thus, initiating this controversy of his.

The poem depicts how India has two sides regarding Women’s rights, Politics, status, Cricket teams, and Bollywood films. People accused him of promoting anti-India propaganda under the garb of comedy. There were a total of seven cases that were filed against him. Aditya Jha, BJP leader, filed a police complaint against the comedian for making fun of the country in front of an international audience.

● His Controversies didn’t stop there. In November 2022, Mumbai Police issued an FIR against Vir Das and two other persons and Netflix, which is a very popular online streaming platform worldwide. The FIR was issued on the ground of violating the copyright rules. The complaint was made by Ashwin Gidwani, a theatre producer, on the ground that Vir Das had copied some of his content from his 2010 agreement to make a show with his company; the trailer debuted on Netflix in January 2020.

Vir Das Awards

Sadly, Vir Das hasn’t received any awards yet though he has been nominated for several. At the 49th International Emmy Awards, he was nominated for the Netflix special Vir Das: For India. He received a Filmfare Award nomination in 2012 for Best Supporting Actor.

Vir Das Movies List/Shows

Considering several years of life in the glamour world, Vir Das has performed many shows; some of these notable shows are:

● Walking on Broken Das (2007)

● History of India: VIRitten (2010)

● Battle of Da Sexes (2014)

● Unbelievablish (2015)

● On The Pot (2016)

● BoardingDAS (2017)

● Losing It (2018)

● The Loved (2019)

● For India (2020)

● Vir Das: Manic Man (2021)

● Outside In (2021)

Vir Das Movies List

Some of the movies in which Vir Das has made an appearance are:

● Namastey London (2007)

● Mumbai Salsa (2007)

● Love Aaj Kal (2009)

● Badmaash Company (2010)

● Delhi Belly (2011)

● Go Goa Gone (2013)

● Sooper Se Ooper(2013)

● Revolver Rani (2014)

● Shaadi Ke Side Effects (2014)

● Amit Sahni Ki List (2014)

● Mastizaade (2016)

● Santa Banta Pvt Ltd (2016)

● 31 October (2016)

● Raakh (2016)

● Shivaay (2016)

● Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi (2017)

● Inside Out (2020)

● Plan B (2021)

● Sabaash Naidu(2022)

Conclusion

Every individual chooses their own direction in life. From moving back and forth between India and Nigeria to moving back and forth between his careers, he grew up. He surely has achieved a lot in his life, be it releasing his shows on Netflix or running his own production house. No doubt Vir Das’s Biography is an inspiring one for all. One thing that is really highlighted in his career is his not giving up attitude. He didn’t give up on his passion for studying theatre, even though his family was a bit against it. He didn’t give up when many people accused him of using his art to negatively influence people.

Hope this post was helpful and that Vir Das’s Biography would have made you realize some of your internal strengths. Check out the faq section to discover some random facts about Vir Das.

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