‘There was an umbrella over their heads, me and my mother were baking in the sun and…’ – Firstpost

Vir Das is one of the most successful artists we have in the country today. He’s not only a comedian but also an actor who has done films like Namastey London and Go Goa Gone. In a recent appearance on the Moments of Silence podcast, the actor recalled his time of shooting for Vipul Shah’s Namastey London with Katrina Kaif and Rishi Kapoor.

Das recalled, “I didn’t know that movies were dubbed. I was a theatre actor,” he said, adding that Katrina Kaif had apparently lost her voice at the time and wasn’t speaking much. “So, the scene is we are on the terrace. I am the prospective groom number three. There is Rishi Kapoor, Nina Wadia and Katrina Kaif. On the other side, it is me and… we were the junior artistes — me and a woman playing my mother.”

The actor added, “There is an umbrella over Rishi Kapoor, Katrina Kaif and Nina Wadia’s heads. But me and my mother are baking in the sun. We are the only two sweaty people in this beautiful Bollywood scene.

Vipul Shah was like, ‘Katrina dubbing mein karlenge something something’. So the scene is Rishi Kapoor says something, I say something, and Katrina Kaif is like…” Vir mimicked her dialogue in a soft whisper. “The director said, ‘Cut, mind-blowing. Brilliant.’ And I am just sitting there thinking: ‘Am I high? She didn’t say s**t.’”

On meeting Rishi Kapoor post the shot

Rishi Kapoor is a cool guy. He asked me, ‘Beta tumhara naam kya hai?’ and I said, ‘Vir Das.’ He put his hand forward and was like, ‘Shake my hand, son.’” Vir laughed as he added, “When you shake Rishi Kapoor’s hand, you become Tina Munim from Karz. All your masculine energy just drains out and you are his heroine in that moment.”