The multi-hyphenate comedian, who performed in Delhi last week, has steadily evolved into one of the most fearless voices of reason in India’s stand-up comedy culture today
Stand-up comedian Varun Grover performed his latest solo comedy show, Love, Death and Ketchup, to a sold-out audience at the Kedarnath Sahni Auditorium in New Delhi last week. And yes, before you wonder aloud, the show was indeed about those three things: love, death, and the ubiquitous condiment found on most Indian dining tables: ketchup.
For an hour and a half, Grover regaled a rather diverse audience that included entire families, replete with grandparents in tow, crop-top-wearing Gen Zs, and dignified-looking Millennials. The show ran the entire spectrum of human emotions, effortlessly switching from periods of pin-drop silence to deafening laughter that shook the rafters.
Meaning in the mundane
It all culminated in a cost-benefit analysis, calculated on a whiteboard by Grover, that even a mathematical birdbrain like me could understand. If Grover weren’t such an accomplished writer and performer, he could surely have become a mathematics teacher, the kind loved by most students.
Though the show’s title might hint at a lighthearted exploration of the mundane, Love, Death and Ketchup deftly tackled heavier themes. Grover wove together discussions of post-Partition trauma, depression, religious identity — and all this while subtly addressing the all-pervasive censorship plaguing the country. It is this remarkable ability to find profound meaning in the ordinary that truly defines his comedy.
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And all of it is done with such wit and intelligence that, in the moment, we often don’t realize the premise of the joke was rather morbid. We carry on with the laughter, and it’s only much later — on the drive home or during a shared metro ride with a friend, when the debrief of the act takes place — that you realize the macabre nature of the thought.
The god of small things
Grover’s comedy doesn’t rely on grandiose narratives. For the past decade, his core theme has been a critical observation of the small, often absurd, things unfolding around him. These observations frequently lead to a questioning of the nation-state and its accompanying machinery.
In the famous Security Check video, he recounts the incident of being barred from carrying the humble fruit singharas (water chestnuts) through airport security, as they were deemed “dangerous” for “they had sharp edges”, and “sharp objects are not allowed in airplanes”.
From ketchup and stale Indigo Airlines sandwiches to the expanding universe of Indian relatives, and thrilling auto rides in Mumbai, Grover’s comedy elevates the everyday, using it to deliver a sharp, incisive social commentary. The singhara joke, for example, delivered a punchline aimed squarely at the home minister and the Indian habit of “conformism.”
In his last special Nothing Makes Sense (2022), he takes a dig at the revamp of Indian history in school textbooks. “Last night I wrote 6 jokes on Mughals, and I woke up this morning to the news that they have been deleted from history. Mughals do not exist, they have never existed…Mughals, kaun mughal, you mean Muggle, Harry Potter waale?,” narrated a bemused Grover.
Melancholia with a hint of the absurd
A lot of Grover’s comedy, while observational, is deeply rooted in the pathos surrounding our country. His humour stems from a place of empathy and sheer helplessness, making ‘tragicomedy’ the perfect word for it. He often points out the ironies and illogical aspects of the world around him. At the moment, his jokes are hilarious, but upon introspection, they hint at a larger malaise plaguing our society.
This sense of unease and discomfort even becomes part of the act. At the show, Grover quipped to the audience, “If anyone asks whose show this is — say Samay Raina’s.” The laughter that followed was loud, but it had a heavy, chilling undertone, a stark reminder of today’s times — that how a single joke can land you in trouble.
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Last year, he had shared something similar, about the proximity of the ruling party’s office to the comedy venue, and how the impact would be instantaneous. In another video, he speaks about the impending death threats faced by stand-up comics today. “Maan lo ki inke paas agar ek hit list hai, usme mere se upar waale abhi bhi zinda hain. Toh jiss din Kamra (Kunal Kamra) marega tab …. (suppose they have a hit list, the people above me on that list are still alive. So the day Kamra gets killed, then…” he says nonchalantly.
It’s a chilling punchline, but it spotlights and underlines why Grover is considered one of the most fearless artists of our time. He navigates the mainstream through his work as a songwriter for Bollywood, crafting beautiful songs for films like Dunki (2023) and Jigra (2024) and even directing his own films. Yet, it’s in the independent comedy space where he truly thrives. He never pulls his punches, and he’s fully aware of the cost of his bravery.
Rebel with a cause
His certitude and drive, however, go beyond just his own material and act. It’s evident in his solidarity with other artists. In a video podcast with Kunal Kamra, Khabr-e-Azam with Kunal Kamra ft Varun Grover, while discussing the controversial national award to The Kerala Story, Grover remarked upon the probability of him receiving one if he wrote something on the state of Uttar Pradesh.
“National award ek mil chuka hai, ek gaane ke liye – Moh Moh ke dhaage… mere videos tab utne nahin aaye the baahar… (‘I’ve already received one National Award, for a song – Moh Moh Ke Dhaage… Back then, my videos hadn’t come out that much…)” shared Grover. And he is not wrong, the song came out in 2015, one year into the current regime.
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He believes in putting his mouth where the money is, and has firmly entrenched himself in the standup community, standing with and for them. Such a show of camaraderie is worth applauding, especially when a retweet or a shared panel can come with the possibility of one landing in jail. Be it showing up in their acts, or applauding them on social media, Grover is an ally of his comic comrades.
“Humour is the safety valve to our emotions. Forget democracy, and other big ideas, which I feel comedy also helps in…… I am not trying to bring a revolution, main kranti nahin kar raha hoon (I’m not leading any revolution). This system which feels like super powerful and all encompassing, I feel like the Shawshank Redemption guy, slowly, I am letting in a very small ray of light….I feel I am ok, I am this powerful..” shared Grover in an interaction with Shoma Chaudhary.
While Grover himself might not believe that his comedy is capable of causing a ‘revolution’, he still soldiers on, one sharp joke, one incisive punchline at a time. Each joke is a tiny assertion, one small pushback. More power to him!
