Vir Das pens gratitude for Delhi High Court, says 'in comedy offence is taken, not given'

Actor-comedian Vir Das, who has been making headlines in the past few days for his portrayal of a brutal stand-up comedian in the Netflix series Hasmukh, took to Twitter and shared a long note of gratitude for the Delhi Court for its judgement on Tuesday. The Delhi High Court has refused to grant interim stay on the Vir Das-starrer web series 'Hasmukh' streaming on the OTT platform Netflix. The plea was seeking an interim stay on the web series claiming it maligned the image of lawyers at large. 

The lawsuit was filed by a lawyer Ashutosh Dubey who said the web series maligned the image and reputation of advocates everywhere and demanded an injunction on the airing of the series or deletion of some of its content. The judiciary, however, rejected his interim plea on the grounds that any such order would be contrary to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed under the Constitution.

Read | Vir Das launches YouTube series to spread some happiness amid Coronavirus crisis

Vir Das highlighted the efficient manner in which the verdict given by the court described an artist's work with an emphasis on a stand-up comedian's job. The Go Goa Gone actor wrote that he feels grateful that the verdict has supported his art-form and justified the content of the show. Delhi High Court's verdict, as stated in Das' note, backs the role of stand-up comedians to ridicule and bring out the ills of the society through a satire.

"The very essence of democracy is that a creative artist is given the liberty to project the picture of the society in the manner he perceives. One of the prime forms of exposing the ills of the society is by portraying a satirical picture of the same. Stand-up comedians perform that very purpose. In their portrayal, they use satire and exaggerate the ills to an extent that it becomes a ridicule. In the humorous portrayal of the ills of the society, the stand-up comedians use satire."

Read | Vir Das receives appreciation for his titular role in dark comedy 'Hasmukh'

Have a look at Vir Das' note of thanks:

Read | Anushka Sharma shares her review on 'Hasmukh' and it will make Vir Das happy

About the show

The dark comedy series, Hasmukh revolves around the life of a small town comic who dreams of wanting to be a successful comedian but has terrible delivery skills. It stars actors Vir Das, Ranvir Shorey, Ravi Kishan, Manoj Pahwa, Raza Murad and Suhail Nayyar in pivotal roles. Helmed by Nikhil Gonsalves and written by Nikhil Advani and Vir Das, the series is currently streaming on Netflix.

Read | Delhi HC refuses to grant stay on airing of Netflix's 'Hasmukh'; Relief for Vir Das