Creating history at the International Emmy Awards 2023 on Tuesday, Vir Das won the award for ‘Vir Das: Landing’ in the Comedy category while prominent producer Ekta Kapoor was honoured with the International Directorate Award during a ceremony held in New York. Though Das shared the honour for the ‘Comedy’ category with ‘Derry Girls Season 3’, he has achieved the feat of being the first comedian from India to win this award.
Talking about his win, Das said, “This moment is truly surreal – an incredible honour that feels like a dream. Winning an Emmy for ‘Vir Das: Landing’ is not just a milestone for me but for Indian comedy as a whole. It’s heartening to see ‘Vir Das: Landing’ resonate globally, thanks to Netflix, Aakash Sharma and Reg Tigerman who made it special. My journey from crafting local stories to receiving a global accolade has been both challenging and rewarding… I’m excited about the continued exploration of diverse narratives, from Noida to the International Emmys – India gets you there.”
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Two other International Emmy nominees from India were Shefali Shah, who competed in the Best Actress category for her performance in Delhi Crime 2 (2022), and Jim Sarbh for the Best Actor award for Rocket Boys season 2 (2023). In 2020, Netflix’s Delhi Crime, a fictionalised retelling of the 2012 Delhi gang-rape and murder case, had bagged the International Emmy for Best Drama series.
While accepting her award, Kapoor spoke about her journey as a producer from the time she and her mother Shobha Kapoor started their company Balaji Telefilms in her father Jeetendra’s garage.
In his career spanning over a decade, Das has dabbled in various formats — stand-up comedy, theatre, television and film. He was first noticed in Bollywood films such as Badmaash Company (2010) and Delhi Belly (2011). He went on to star in Go Goa Gone (2013) and Shaadi ke Side Effects (2014).
First appeared on indianexpress.com