“The Bravest Thing I Have Ever Done For My Mental Health Is Stand Up Comedy” Actor And Comedian Vir Das Talks About Bullying, Healing & Artistry In Brave Talk’s Final Episode With Nikhil Taneja

Mumbai, June 2025: In the fifth and final episode of Yuvaa’s impactful and engaging series Brave Talk with Nikhil & Friends presented by Maybelline New York, comedian and actor Vir Das sat sat with host Nikhil Taneja for a heartfelt conversation that explored his views and experiences on various topics from fame to mental health.

Brave Talk with Nikhil & Friends brought together a powerful lineup of self-made, influential voices of India for honest and emotionally resonant conversations. The limited five-episode series struck a chord with audiences across age groups by delving into themes of fame, resilience, vulnerability, and staying humbled in today’s fast-paced world. The show has already amassed over 3M+ views across YouTube and a reach of over 5M+ organically.

Hosted by Nikhil Taneja, the thoughtful series featured heartfelt dialogues with changemakers such as Dr. Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju, who opened up about their journey as a trans woman and doctor; Apoorva Mukhija (The Rebel Kid), who shared her experiences of navigating online hate while staying authentic; actress Dolly Singh, who reflected on heartbreak and personal growth beyond her digital persona; and actor-dancer Raghav Juyal (aka ‘Crockroaxz’), who spoke about grief, healing, and challenging traditional ideas of masculinity.

In the final episode of the series, comedian Vir Das sat down with Nikhil Taneja, who began the conversation by asking him about the bravest thing he’s ever done for his mental health — to which Vir candidly responded “To be honest with you the bravest thing done for mental health is, Stand up comedy. People think that I am doing something for the audience when I am a comedian, I wish everyone in the world, I wish I could put you on stage next to me so you could experience what it feels like to have 9 thousand people send a laugh your way, there is no drug, meditation, religion, there is nothing in the world that feels as good as that one laugh passing through your body, it’s positivity. But for that you have to have a deep vulnerability to have a connection with the audience. So, I have had the privilege to be really honest about my feelings.”

Speaking on his personal experience with bullying in childhood, Vir opened up saying “Being a kid from Africa, I think its till date noticed that the way I speak english is a little posher than the average Indian english accent and that’s just by virtue of where I’ve grown up and we equate posher english with privilege. Sometimes falsely so, I have friends who I went to college with, who have proper British accents but their parents own a post office and what I really think is hurt people hurt people.”

While answering a question from the audience on if comedian Samay Raina will be a bit underconfident following the controversy on his show in February this year, Vir said, “Anything that I have to say to him, I already have because I am in touch with almost every comic in India who ever needs me or my advice. What I will say to you is I have been in this position before and you have to understand that this is about getting on the news and when you’re in that situation, all you want and your family wants is for you to get off the news. So being aware of the weight that my words hold, and I don’t want to contribute to getting a young comic back on the news because of something I’ve said.”

As the final episode of the series wrapped up, host Nikhil expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Vir for his honesty, vulnerability, and thoughtfulness — thanking him not just for his art, but for inspiring everyone through the person he really is.