Priyanka Chopra is the global Indian, I am nowhere even close to her level: Vir Das on comparisons with actor

He leaves his sellout shows to standing ovations in America, but his success is ‘nowhere even close to the level of Priyanka Chopra’, comedian-actor Vir Das said in a new interview. Vir called Priyanka ‘the global Indian’ and lauded her for ‘breaking down the initial door’ for him to work in America. He added there was a ‘big difference’ between the two as he was performing on popular celebrity chat shows like The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, while Priyanka was seen as a guest on those American shows. Also read: Priyanka Chopra attends Vir Das’ LA show, calls him ‘brave and inspiring’; he thanks her for ‘opening the doors for us’

Vir has been performing in India and the US. His stand-up Vir Das: Landing, where he dives deep into his childhood in India, the perils of outrage and finding his feet in the world, was released in December 2022. This was his fourth Netflix stand-up special.

When it was told that him and Priyanka were the only Indians to have ‘very successfully’ relocated to America and started from scratch again, despite it being difficult for Indians, Vir Das said he could not be compared to her. Vir said on the The Ranveer Show, “Nowhere even close to the level of Priyanka. Like Priyanka is the global Indian. I walk into a room, and there’s like ‘you’re Indian, you like Priyanka Chopra, no?’ So that is a thing now. (Have been on Tonight Show etc.) But not like Priyanka Chopra. I have performed on the Tonight Show (The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon), Priyanka Chopra is on the couch. It is a big difference, you know.”

Vir further added, “I could not have more respect for what she’s done. And when she says it is hard, I fully understand how hard it is for me now. And therefore how much harder it would have been for her to break down the initial door.”

Last year, Priyanka had attended Vir’s Los Angeles show, and called him ‘brave and inspiring’. In return, he thanked her for ‘opening the doors’ for him. “What a day! With Awesome friends watching an awesome friend do what he does best! @virdas you are so brave and so inspiring to me! Not to mention had me in tears laughing!! Thanks for having us,” Priyanka had captioned her Instagram post in April. Vir had commented on her post and written, “Thank you for coming! Thank you for opening all the doors for the rest of us. And thank you for always being awesome and cool and funny! I admire you so much.”