He wears many, many hats and excels in all of them. This Friday, however, will witness Vir Das embark on a whole new ride — that of a debutant filmmaker. The multihyphenate talent co-directs spy comic caper Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos, in which he also stars as the titular character. Produced by actor Aamir Khan — whose hilarious appearances in the film’s promotional campaign, alongside Vir, has already grabbed eyeballs — Happy Patel also marks the acting comeback of Imran Khan a decade after his last release. A t2 chat with Vir.

As a comedian, you consistently sell out major venues across the world, you won an International Emmy, you are an actor and a published author. Does being just days away from your feature film directorial debut hit different from anything in the past?

It does. There is nervousness and excitement in equal measure. This is my first movie as a director and I am very, very nervous about how people will receive it. This is a film which is unimaginably silly! (Laughs) Since it is such an outrageous comedy, there is no clear definition of how it needed to be done. I hope people go to the cinemas and watch Happy Patel: Khatarnak Jasoos.

I hail from the world of stand-up comedy. It is an art form where people need to leave their homes and go to a venue in order to watch a show. Same is the case for the movie theatre-going experience. The big question in the film industry right now is whether people are going to feel enticed enough to leave their homes and go and watch a film in the theatre. Stand-up and horror are the two community-watching experiences that are still left, that people leave their houses for. People pack up arenas for stand-up comedy shows because they like to sit as a group and laugh with other people. That is really the only way to do it. I am hoping that also happens with Happy Patel. We have worked two-and-a-half years on the film and now that it is time to send it out into the world, the feeling is one of bitter-sweetness.

The promotional campaign — featuring you and Aamir Khan — as well as the trailer has been a clutter-breaker and piqued immense curiosity. What kind of a vibe are you getting from audiences?

We are a tiny film that is taking some big swings, and our marketing (strategy) needed to reflect that. A film of this size doesn’t get the kind of attention that Happy Patel has got so far. I think most people now know that a film like this exists and is set to release soon (smiles). Over the last few months, we have had quite a few heavy, serious films. Happy Patel is as light as it gets.

Why would you call Happy Patel a tiny film, given that it is backed by a superstar like Aamir Khan?

We shot it in 30 days, which is not a large film at all. We are a small-budget film... there is no denying that. Aamir does back small-budget films. Laapataa Ladies had a modest budget. The nice thing about him is that he will make the massive tentpole films but he also supports small films. He did 3 Idiots, Dhobi Ghat and Peepli [Live] back to back.

What was the genesis of Happy Patel?

I wrote it 10 years ago. At that point, there was little or no spy culture in Indian cinema. I took the script to a few people who said: “Indian spy, how will that be?!” But after that Tiger happened, War and Pathaan happened and the spy genre became mainstream.

About two years ago, I took the idea off the shelf and rewrote it completely. The tone of this film is ridiculous, but the ones who are in those situations don’t know it is ridiculous. It is a comedy, but the characters who are in it don’t know it is a comedy (laughs). There is action in the film, but the ridiculousness comes from the fact that someone is fighting wearing purple feather handcuffs! Things are taken very, very seriously in this film, which, I think, is the best kind of comedy. You have a film like Austin Powers which knows it is a comedy. But then there is Johnny English who is in a comedy but he is going about his business very earnestly and seriously — and obviously messing it all up!

In Happy Patel, Mona Singh plays a murderous villain and even within that comedic tone, she does her stuff very seriously. Mithila (Palkar) plays a very violent character, and is cast against type. My character is supposed to be a secret agent but he is doing ballet, making sandwiches, discovering India.... He basically gets the shit beaten out of him throughout the film until there comes a point when he doesn’t. The role of a ‘hero’ in an action-comedy film is that you have keep him a loser, you can’t give him a win till the end. That is what happens in most Adam Sandler and Ben Stiller films. The guy is in a lose-lose-lose position... until he finally wins. When he wins, the audience is hopefully on his side because he has given them laughs throughout the journey of the film.

There are seven action sequences in this movie. There are multiple cameos and we have 14 original song acts of different genres. Like I said... tiny film, big swing.

What was Aamir’s reaction when he read the script for the first time? I believe there were multiple narrations...

I called Aamir two years ago, right after I won the International Emmy. I told him: “I have written a script and I think you are the only person who will get what I am trying to say.” He was like: “Okay, give me a narration.” I hadn’t spoken to this man in 11 years, but within six days of me calling him, I was giving him a narration!

Aamir is a stickler for story. When it comes to story, he will drive you very hard. I would tweak the script here and there and keep going back to him every five-six days. Once he was okay with the script, he told us to take a little bit of money and go and shoot a few scenes because he needed to know if I was technically adept at moving the camera and things like that. We shot a few scenes with friends and family and he greenlit that and we were on.

This will be your Delhi Belly co-star Imran Khan’s first appearance in a film in 10 years. How did he make his way into Happy Patel?

Imran messaged me two or three weeks before we started shooting. He said that he had seen the pre-production work and had loved the story. He asked if he could pop into the film somewhere as an actor. I jumped at the idea and told him I would write something special and crazy for him. I took some time and wrote Imran’s character into the story. It is a crazy part!

You have been working and touring the world non-stop over the last three-four years. You wrote a book, did a number of international comedy specials and have now even directed a film. Unlike the rest of us, do you have more than 24 hours in a day?!

(Laughs) I have co-directed the film with my longtime friend and collaborator Kavi Shastri, and that has taken some load off me. Stand-up comedy is a very solitary art form, but in directing, you can trust 200 people to help you make your job better. To be honest, we got a crew that we do not deserve. The colourist (Sidharth Meer) on this film has worked on Homebound. The costume designer (Parakriti Rajpurohit) has done Sacred Games. The action team is Ajay Devgn’s action team. We had high-level technicians for a project which is this small and was such a short shoot. I don’t know if we will get to do something this mad ever again. I had a lot of people to trust and they made my job easier.

Even though you had a co-director, what was it like directing yourself? Did it feel overwhelming at certain points?

I don’t think a film shoot is going well unless you are overwhelmed at least six times during the course of making it! (Laughs) Your first film is supposed to suck the soul out of you and this one did just that! I gave it my everything, but honestly, I can’t wait to do it again.

Does that mean we will get to see a lot of Vir Das the filmmaker in the next few years?

I would love to! Directing is the closest to stand-up, to be honest. As an actor, you submit to somebody else’s madness. But in stand-up comedy, you get to control every word, control the entire field, control how the audience feels. That is also what a film director does and I legitimately fell in love with the job.

Your book The Outsider: A Memoir for Misfits released two months ago and you are still doing the promotional rounds for it. What has the response been like?

It seems to be on the bestseller shelves in most stores. I walked into a shop in Khan Market (in Delhi) the other day and was told that the title was sold out. I had one book in me and this was it. Writing this book is the toughest thing I have ever done. It is tougher than making a movie and I have mad respect for writers now.

What are the next few years looking like for you?

Sounds of India (Vir’s immersive audio-visual stand-up comedy tour) will do a massive India tour... I am in Chandigarh for that right now. Hey Stranger, which is the show that went to New York’s Lincoln Center Theater, will do a world tour. I will hopefully make a horror film soon. Big, big horror fan!