On the back of a tumultuous election week, writer-filmmaker Varun Grover takes the Mumbai stage with his tour, Nothing Makes Sense. We speak to him about the set, art, and writing jokes in these difficult times
Varun Grover
It’s a challenge to get through to Varun Grover on a busy Thursday morning. Writer, filmmaker, poet, a National Award-winning lyricist and a sharp satirist — Grover juggles multiple roles. It is no surprise that his day is packed with meetings. Yet, he makes time.
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“Honest and real observations that relate to people are what defines good comedy,” the Lucknowite-turned-Mumbaikar begins. His upcoming set on the weekend, Nothing Makes Sense, is built around such observations of an India that Grover grew up in and lived through during the 1990s and early 2000s, and how it has evolved. Yet, his comedy is as sensitive to the world around him as his other writing. “There is a sense of awareness and a social responsibility [in stand-up comedy]. What you talk about must have some value in it,” he says.
Nothing Makes Sense debuted in late 2023, and has since travelled across the globe with performance tours in Europe. The current tour, till July, will see the writer head to Bengaluru, Delhi and Hyderabad, following the performance in Mumbai today. “We had a good show in Europe. Since it is mostly in Hindi, it caters to a very desi audience. I did the first iteration back in September 2023, but the show keeps evolving. That is how storytelling and comedy is,” he remarks.
This week should spark some creative observations. The surprising results of the Indian general elections, and the reactions to the coalition have already set off a flurry of memes online. Ask him about the future and Grover shies away from any predictions. “Never predict the future. We humans know nothing about anything. We hardly can tell what will happen next week,” he says in his signature dry humour. It is precisely why he keeps working on the set. The director of All India Rank (2024) shares, “I keep changing. I keep adding stuff because the world is constantly moving. When I go to a new city, I discover some local content. There is often a gap between the shows, and as you know, the news cycle changes.”
But one thing is evident; the election results have ignited new-born hope among artistes. As one of the prominent critics of the ruling establishment, Grover has often come under fire from trolls online. “All artistes want a sense of freedom of the mind,” he reflects. Quoting Rabindranath Tagore’s famous lines ‘Where the mind is without fear/and the head is held high’, he says, “A feeling that what you say will not be taken out of context or cause FIRs to be filed against you, or end with you receiving death threats on the Internet or in real life; this enables you to create something of value for society in turn. Otherwise, you end up creating a system that generates conformity. And conformity makes for the worst kind of art, as we have seen time and again over the years.”
This need to punch up to the establishment comes from his early inspirations, one of whom was the late Jaspal Bhatti. In the ’90s, he grew up listening and watching Bhatti’s sharp and rib-tickling satires on political parties, their hypocrisy and mismanagement. “There have been so many times that I have frequently thought about a world where he was still around and what he would say about the India of today,” Grover muses. But he won’t boot any comparison of comics as the last bastion of democracy. “Definitely not,” says Grover, “There are many others; writers, independent journalists, lawyers, activists and students, who have fought to make their voice heard, and make a difference.” Before he returns to his busy schedule, the filmmaker quips, “Comedy should surprise you with a thought that you had not framed in your mind.”
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