"Not Gonna Cough, My Lungs Have Adapted": Vir Das On Mumbai's Air Quality

Stand-up star and actor Vir Das started his day with a sharp quip about Mumbai's worsening air quality, saying he's reached a point where coughing has become redundant as his lungs have "adapted."

Vir posted a video on Instagram from his living room in Mumbai, adding a smoke filter for effect. A text overlay on the clip read: "Morning from Mumbai."

In the clip, he is heard saying: "Morning from Mumbai everyone, hope everybody's doing well. I'm not gonna cough at this point, my lungs have adapted, it's fine. Oh, you think this is the outside? No, this is what's happening inside you (sic)."

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Mumbai this week was covered with a thick blanket of smog. The city is slowly slipping deep into the 'very poor' air category. Mumbai's Air Quality Index (AQI) has now touched the severe category.

Talking about Vir Das, after starting a career in stand-up comedy, he moved to cinema, starring in films like Badmaash Company, Delhi Belly, and Go Goa Gone. In 2017, he performed the Netflix special Abroad Understanding.

Vir has appeared in approximately 35 plays, over 100 stand-up comedy shows, 18 films, eight TV shows and six comedy specials. In 2019, he made his debut in American television with the television series, Whiskey Cavalier. He won the 2023 International Emmy Award for Best Comedy Series for the Netflix comedy special Vir Das: Landing.

In films, Vir was last seen in The Bubble, a 2022 comedy film directed by Judd Apatow. The film features Karen Gillan, Vir Das, Pedro Pascal, Iris Apatow, Fred Armisen, Maria Bakalova, David Duchovny, Keegan-Michael Key, Leslie Mann, Kate McKinnon, Guz Khan, Peter Serafinowicz, and Harry Trevaldwyn.

It follows the cast and crew of a blockbuster action franchise who attempt to film a sequel while quarantining at a posh hotel during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the web in fiction, he was seen in Call Me Bae starring Ananya Panday. It also features Gurfateh Pirzada, Varun Sood, Vihaan Samat, Muskkaan Jaferi, Niharika Lyra Dutt, Lisa Mishra and Mini Mathur.

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