He is still "just a guy on a stool" for whom the audience's laughter will always be more precious than accolades, says Vir Das, the first Indian comic to win an International Emmy Award.
Das won the award for his Netflix stand-up special Vir Das: Landing in the Best Comedy category at a ceremony in New York on Monday night. He tied with the much-acclaimed British series Derry Girls for the coveted prize.
"The job is to take the beautiful chosen people of the world and humanise them a little bit by making an idiot out of myself... I hope we all just get sillier and continue to be fools," the actor-comic, who returned home on Wednesday, told PTI in a virtual interview.
The future of the Indian comedy scene is "tremendous", the 41-year-old said.
"I'm underslept. The phone has been going a little insane. But I'm just grateful. I don't think anything has fully sunk in yet. Luckily, I have a long flight back to India to process all of it." An award, he said, is a gift and recognition laughter.
"In my speech, I made sure to thank the Indian people for their laughter. I said it was the soundtrack to my life," he said.
Injecting a note of reality as he celebrates his first International Emmy trophy, he said it will get him "maybe 30 seconds extra applause" when he walks out on the stage. After that, it will only be about the laughs.
"I will have to make them (the audience) laugh. At the end of the day, they will be like 'We have paid for this, so make us laugh'." Das, who has often courted trouble over his quirky, observational performances and social media posts, is already readying for shows in Chandigarh and Bengaluru.
He was one of the three Indians to be nominated at the 51st International Emmy Awards along with Shefali Shah for Delhi Crime season two (Netflix) and Jim Sarbh for Rocket Boys (SonyLIV). Besides, producer Ektaa R Kapoor of Balaji Productions was honoured with the International Emmy Directorate Award.
Emmy Awards 2025 winners list as Stephen Graham, Seth Rogen and Owen Cooper shine Getty Images 
Siddharth and Freida Pinto team up for Netflix’s Unaccustomed Earth adaptation of Jhumpa Lahiri’s short stories Getty Images 
Johnwellsproductions Instagram PostInstagram/
Actor Siddharth's Instagram postInstagram Screengrab/
Jhumpa Lahiri’s award-winning Unaccustomed Earth comes to Netflix with a global ensemble castGetty Images 
Taylor Swift's lawyer denies deposition agreement in Tustin Baldoni- Blake Lively lawsuit Getty Images 
Taylor Swift has "no material role" in legal case, says lawyerGetty Images
Bryan Freedman, speaks to the press at US District Court after a pre-trial hearing in New York on February 3, 2025Getty Images
Taylor Swift and Blake Lively prior to Super Bowl LVIII between the San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City ChiefsGetty Images
U.S. judge rules Blake Lively\u2019s harassment claims were legally protected speech Getty Images 
Coolie hits £47m worldwide as fake ‘big mistake’ quote on Aamir Khan cameo goes viral Instagram/sunpictures 