Vir Das described Shah Rukh Khan as ‘the biggest star in the world’ on a podcast session and also opened up about writing jokes for the superstar. Vir was speaking on actor-comedian Whitney Cummings’ Good For You Podcast when he tried to explain how Brad Pitt walking down a street in Los Angeles would be a possibility but Shah Rukh stepping out in Mumbai would lead to a ‘stampede.’
Talking about the 56-year-old actor’s fan base, Vir said: “In Mumbai if Shah Rukh Khan, who is the biggest Bollywood star, stepped out for like 30 seconds, there’d be a stampede. There’d be 5,000 people on the street. And that’s like Bollywood fame.”
As Whitney searched for Shah Rukh on Google, Vir continued: “That’s the biggest star in the world, pretty much. Like in terms of everything. In terms of fan-base, in terms of reach, in terms of everything. Like every Sunday, he will have 10,000 people waiting outside his house.”
“Nobody romances a woman like Shah Rukh romances a woman – it’s something you’ll find people saying,” Vir added. He also talked about Shah Rukh’s journey to superstardom and said: “He’s story is really great. He showed up in Mumbai with nothing but a suitcase and kind of became ‘King Of The World’ story. I think people relate to that, aspire to that.”
Vir recalled writing jokes for Shah Rukh for award shows and said he would make his own additions to it, which would turn out to be better: “Our version of the Oscars – I used to write jokes for that and he used to host it. Like you’d be up in his house and just like pitching jokes to the guy. And then he’d never listen to you. He’d go on and do his version of the joke and it would always be better. Nobody’s ever done that.” He added: “So in backstage, you’re just like ‘…that was good. You know he’s that good. He’s that smart.”
Vir Das, an actor-comedian, is best known for his comedy specials on Netflix. He was nominated at the International Emmy Awards for the show Vir Das: For India – he lost to Call My Agent. He was recently in the midst of a controversy for his ‘Two Indias’ monologue.