Vir Das has found immense appreciation and acceptance for his topical and observational comedy in the West. He started his comedy stint in Hollywood as a guest on the talk show Conan, where he used to give a hilarious touch to the current events and news. Being an Indian, it instilled in me a sense of pride of seeing my fellow countryman being lauded on American television. Post that, he has done a fair amount of work in the west as well as in India including films, web series and his comedy specials. Recently, he even got nominated for an International Emmy for his Netflix special, Vir Das: For India. And now, the actor-comedian has added another feather to his cap.
The actor is writing a new show for the network FOX in Hollywood titled Country Eastern and it will be a single cam comedy series, also featuring Vir. The actor is co-writing, and acting as an executive producer on the show with Sam Laybourne, with the latter also being the showrunner. Sam has recently been an EP on Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist and has written for shows like Black-ish, Cougar Town and Arrested Development.
Talking about Country Eastern, Vir says:
“It’s an exciting brand-new project that is in the works and I’m happy to announce that the series is now being developed. The writing of the series is currently on. I’m excited to be collaborating with such immensely talented names, each of whom have an envious body of work. It’s a unique comedy and I’m looking forward to filming the series soon.”
Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Akiva Schaffer and Ali Bell of Party Over Here, known for projects like Pen15 and Palm Springs, will also executively produce the show along with Reg Tigerman, whereas CBS Studios and Fox Entertainment are the producers. The series is about a young and wealthy man from India, who moves to the US to restart his life with his family. In an attempt to rebuild their lives in Memphis, Tennessee, he decides to pursue his passion and become a country music singer. The only problem being that he’s completely bad at it. He’s going to have to gain some life experience in the States if he wants to have something real to sing about, and that forms the crux of the show.
Vir has been raising the Indian flag high in the west with his tremendous work there and this is just another accomplishment in that impressive list. The actor has a Hollywood project titled The Bubble, directed by Judd Apatow in the pipeline as well, and it feels great to see Indian talent being recognised and nudged ahead in the West at a time when the lines are blurring between languages and regions when it comes to media. I have always been an ardent admirer of the work Vir has done, be it his quirky comedy or the intellectual side of him, and seeing him climb the ladder of success in the West just fills me with immense pride.