Hasan Minhaj shared a part of the podcast on social media with Vir Das, just days after announcing his India Tour, ‘Sounds of India’. Talking about Bollywood, movies, and podcasts, the duo had a rather heartfelt discussion about Shah Rukh Khan. Known for his overall humble nature, Khan is celebrated for his hospitality, politeness, and so much more. As he launches his son Aryan Khan’s directorial debut on Netflix, SRK is set to return to the big screen in 2026. But his timeless aura often becomes the point of discussion.
Avoiding all analogies, Minhaj shared the video with the caption, “Vir Das explains Shah Rukh Khan to Americans.” In the conversation, Das recalls the time when he was still writing the scripts for Filmfare Awards. Filled with “immature jokes”, as he called them, the comedian was simply stunned by the grandeur of Mannat, Shah Rukh Khan’s extravagant sea-facing villa. ”We spent three nights,” Das described writing and performing the jokes for the event.
Echoing every comedian’s sentiment, he remarked that all comedians hoped that the script remains unchanged and is performed the way they intended to emote it – capturing the entire essence of a joke. Made up of three elements – premise, set up, and punch, Das remarked that SRK was “ the only one who changed it, and it was even better, because it’s him.”
‘You feel the room move’
Explaining the superstar’s aura, Das commented that,” you feel the room move!” as he talked to Minhaj, On how SRK made his mark in the industry, he said: “He showed up in Mumbai with one suitcase from Delhi, looked out of the sea, and said, ‘I’m going to be the king of the city’ – and then did and bought the house by the sea…”
Taking a motivational turn, the story continues as Das narrates, “He makes you believe it could happen for you too. But even if it doesn’t, you’re glad it happened to him.”
‘He’s just the movies’
While Minhaj hasn’t met the superstar, the comedian has often been asked to describe Shah Rukh Khan. He described that he just asks, “Do you know movies? That’s it. He’s just movies.” Just like every millennial cannot recall their first movie they enjoyed not to be a Shah Rukh Khan starrer, he remains equally iconic for the Gen-Z. Adding further to his description Minhaj remarked that he didn’t even bother to use an analogy from Hollywood. “He is as foundational to cinema as opening credits are. He is in the DNA code to it.”
Just punching SRK up to a pedestal, Vir Das did make a rather expressionistic analogy. He described that if it were Tom Cruise, a Hollywood icon, to walk into a crowd, there would be loud cheers. But the mere presence of Khan, would just leave the crowd gasping for air, completely in awe of the actor.