International Emmy-winning comedian Vir Das has penned an almost two-hour-long comedy show that is entirely about India, he said on Monday.

The project had been in the works for five years, Das said in an X post.

“Hey Folks. So, five years ago I began to write a show about India. It's something I dreamed of writing for like a decade. A show that attempted to capture our existence with relentless spread, and pace,” he wrote on X.

The comedian added that a controversial video about India on his YouTube channel made it difficult for him to tour the country or freely talk about it.

“Then a video about India on my YouTube made sure there was no chance in hell I could talk about the country, or even tour it properly. Truthfully, controversy is a mix of risk, hate, attention currency but also…basic guilt. I felt I had lost the right to do an exploration of India. So did global work, and focussed really hard on it. This idea kept coming back,” wrote Das, perhaps alluding to his 2021 performance Two Indias at the Kennedy Center in Washington, which landed him in the crosshairs of political groups.

The comedian admitted that the controversy not only put him at personal risk but also left him grappling with personal guilt. After Das returned to his decade-old idea, he scraped the old jokes and rewrote the script. The result was a nearly two-hour-long show devoted to India.

“Six months ago, I scrapped the old jokes and wrote the show I’ve dreamt about for a decade. It’s finally complete, it’s close to two hours of new comedy. It’s entirely about India. Can’t wait to share it with you,” Das concluded.

On the work front, Vir Das’s seventh collaboration with Netflix, Fool Volume, premiered on the streamer on July 18.

His first Netflix project, Abroad Understanding (2017), introduced his humour to audiences worldwide, followed by Losing It (2018), For India (2020) and Outside In (2020).

In 2023, Das won the prestigious International Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series for his 2022 Netflix special, Vir Das: Landing, which offered a unique perspective on global cultural dynamics. This award not only solidified his place on the international stage but also paved the way for him to make history again as the first Indian host of the International Emmy Awards ceremony in 2024.

The 46-year-old comedian-actor has gained recognition not only for his stand-up comedy but also for his work in Bollywood, where he has starred in hits like Delhi Belly, Go Goa Gone and Badmaash Company. He recently starred in the Prime Video series Call Me Bae (2024) alongside Ananya Panday.

Das is also set to debut as an author with a memoir titled The Outsider: A Memoir For Misfits, which will be released in November.

He is currently on his international Mind Fool tour, taking his comedy to 33 countries.