You are a comedian, the frontman of a band and an actor…

…Yeah, my career is a trifecta of being an outsider. I am not a part of the comedy scene because I’m considered too Bollywood. I am too stand-up comedian cool for Bollywood. And I am too comedian-Bollywood for rock music. I am quietly working in all three industries consistently.

If you had to pick one out of thesethree…

I couldn’t. I am a Gemini and I can’t do just one thing. I can’t be on the road for 52 weeks a year as a comedian or be stuck in a vanity van as an actor.

Netflix had specials with Dave Chappelle, Louis CK, Kevin Hart, before your Abroad Understanding landed on April 25....

I don’t want to think of the enormity of this special. If I start thinking about that I’ll be sitting in my bathroom 24/7. My only worry when I was doing this special was if it was Indian enough. Netflix is in 110 countries, with 100 million subscribers. If someone in China or Africa is watching an Indian stand-up act for the first time, I want them to think that it is authentically Indian. ‘Being Indian’ has been used as a punchline, like with Apu from The Simpsons, or the head bobble. I want people to hear an Indian talk about Obamacare, homophobia or racism.

Your favourite comedy special on Netflix is...

The Chappelle specials were outstanding. Neal Brennan’s 3 Mics is also fantastic. In terms of likeability, there is no one better than Kevin Hart. The minute he comes on stage you are rooting for him. Ali Wong’s Baby Cobra is a wonderful caustic special.

Your favourite comedians of all time are...

George Carlin, Eddie Izzard and Johnny Lever.

Your earliest memory of doing stand-up is…

Being nine years old and interjecting in a school debate. This was at Lawrence School, Sanawar. The debate was for Class XII students and a prefect who used to beat the shit out of me was on the podium. I went up, put him down and got a laugh from the crowd. That’s the first time I realised the power of having the crowd on your side.

You deal with hecklers by...

I get hecklers all the time. When you are starting out, a heckler can do real damage when you have an audience of 200-300 people. Now I have 3,000-plus people and a heckler can’t do any real damage. For the act to go wrong when you are playing a stadium, you have to piss off a very large number of people at the same time. That is very hard to do.

A subject you won’t joke about...

Nothing really. India is a very sensitive place to do comedy in but if you start thinking about that, you’ll self-censor. I have never done that.

One thing that makes you laugh...

I spend my whole life looking for allegedly “intelligent” comedy, so stupid comedy makes me laugh. Mel Brook and Chaplin’s movies, America’s Funniest Home Videos and my bulldog make me laugh.

Indian comedians to look out for...

All of them are upping the bar. Guys like AIB and EIC are doing wonderful things on the Internet. I think we don’t have enough female comedians so it’s fantastic to see Aditi Mittal or Anu Menon take the boys to school.

Choose one: Hrithik Roshan’s body or Dave Chappelle’s sense of humour...
Sense of humour, always. That shit doesn’t fade, body can. The most wonderful thing about being funny is the longevity that it gives you. Chocolate boys come and go but Anupam Kher will always headline.

Quick, tell us a joke...

I charge money for that!