Watch: Vir Das’s recap of 2017 is more scathing than it is funny, and that is as it should be
“You all saw what happened this year. The world’s going to end, we’re all going to die.”
Comedy may not seem the most appropriate vehicle for the viciousness, violence and vindictiveness that marked the major events of 2017. But things have come to a pass where no other narrative form will seem realistic either.
So, here’s comic artist Vir Das on the year. Laced with beeped-out profanities, and sprinkled with the four letter word for “excrement” liberally (it is, after all, a “potcast”), as much of comedy routines in India are, the video is nevertheless an essential reminder of much that was reprehensible this year – from Harvey Weinstein to the Padmavati row and everything in between.
Das discusses the impact of the #MeToo campaign on Indian men, while throwing in an impersonation of ousted censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani here and there. He also urges everyone to let go of past politics and work on fixing the messes of today’s democracy.
Trigger warning: not for the easily offended.