We've got a lot of great news to share about the film!

​By the end of 2015, we had well over 150+ hours of footage, including pre-India footage, tour footage in India, and additional small shoots and interviews back here in America, not to mention lots of home videos of Tushar and his family growing up. That's a lot of material to process! 

In February 2016, we were fortunate enough to bring on Tim Vece, a creative editor at Outback Editorial here in Atlanta, to edit the film from beginning to end. Telling stories is Tim's forte, and he has tons of experience editing. From the first time we met him, Tim loved the project and Tushar's story. Since joining the team, he has immersed himself completely in the footage, and works closely every week with Laura (director), Court (producer), and our new assistant editor (and Tim's favorite!) Alexandra "Ace" McColl, who brings another keen eye and technical skills to the film. ​

We want to say a big thanks to Tim and every member of the team, who have all contributed immense time and energy to keep the film moving forward towards a final cut. And to all of you who backed the project and made it possible in the first place, we are grateful for your help in bringing this story to life, and excited to share it with the world.

Be sure to like the American Hasi Facebook Page here for more updates from Tushar and the team!

BIG NEWS! A couple of weeks ago we were fortunate enough to do an extended interview with none other than Tushar's comic idol and stand-up heavyweight Bill Burr! 

While in India, we saw Bill's show in Mumbai, his first time in the country, and part of his first visit to Asia. Tushar sat down and talked with him in LA about that show in particular, the Indian comedy scene, and tons of other stuff we're excited to feature in the movie, including some personal advice should Tushar end up moving to India.

Thanks to everyone who helped us SELL OUT the Laughing Skull Lounge in Atlanta last month for the American Hasi "Brownies" show hosted by Tushar! We had a blast hanging out with Abish, Kenny and Kaneez on their first full-fledged show in the US, including Tushar's lively and revealing interview with Abish in Piedmont Park. All the best to them back in India!

We're currently in the midst of post-production, with an anticipated rough cut date closer to the beginning of 2016. Don't be surprised if you see the film under a new name at some point as well :)

Thanks for your continued support!

Tushar, Laura and me took a trip to Huntsville, AL last week to film Tushar in his "natural Southern habitat." We hit several of mine and Tushar's childhood/high school hot spots like the Huntsville Public Library, Bina's living room, Walmart, Stanlieo's Sub Villa, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville (aka UAH). We also stopped by the Flying Monkey Arts Center, where Tushar has performed several comedy shows over the last few years.

At UAH, we visited the optics department, where Tushar's dad worked, and we ran into a bunch of people who knew Dr. Vikram and were eager to share fond memories and some of their work together.

Tushar also caught up with his mom, as well as sister Preeti and nephew Arjun, who were visiting from New Jersey! Arjun's nickname for Tushar is "Shar-mama," which we found a little too endearing, along with Arjun's yoga demonstration.

We are now back in Atlanta, where post-production continues, including logging all footage and preliminary distribution strategy!

Hello from the US again!

We wrapped shooting in India on February 20th, after 35 successful days of filming and Tushar's performances at over 15 different venues all over India, from cold nights in Delhi up north, to sunny warm Bangalore in the south. We met tons of young, talented and ambitious Indian comedians who welcomed Tushar to shows, brought us up to speed on the fast growing Indian stand-up comedy scene, and allowed us to pick their brains.

During our last two weeks of the tour, we also got a taste of just how sensitive a large part of the Indian population is to any humor pushing the envelope, or even touching on political or sexual issues: two shows were cancelled due to threats of violence against the venues, several well-known stand-up comedians were charged with "assault" stemming from their jokes at a roast, and the growing tension was palpable across the entire comedy community.

Post-production on the film has begun here in Atlanta, although we still have a little more shooting left with Tushar and his mom in Huntsville, AL at the end of this month.

We'll keep you updated on the progress!

For our return trip to Mumbai, Tushar had 6 shows lined up, every night from Feb 10-15, but only ended up doing half of them because comedy venues began receiving threats of violence as a backlash to the controversial AIB (All India Bakchod) Knockout broadcast on YouTube. The AIB Knockout was a comedy roast with a format almost exactly the same as the Comedy Central-style roasts in the US, complete with Bollywood stars and central figures to the emerging stand-up comedy scene in India, as well as a live audience of 4,000. The Knockout was standard semi-explicit fare by US standards, but for India, it was pretty shocking humor in terms of the amount of sexual, racist, and politically incorrect jokes. The 3-part video of the roast has since been removed from YouTube by AIB, but is still available on other sites like DailyMotion: 

Of the three shows Tushar did perform in Mumbai, two of them were at Canvas Laugh Club, India's only dedicated comedy club. Although there has clearly been a lot of money put into the venue and production at Canvas, a lot of the smaller venues we've done thus far have been more fun and engaging, compared to the sterile theater environment at Canvas. While in Mumbai, Tushar got the opportunity to network and hang out with a lot of the working comics here (a small but growing group), and has been considering moving to Mumbai to be a part of the burgeoning comedy revolution here. So we also took some time to meet with a local realtor, who showed Tushar around six different apartments ranging from studio to 2-bedroom units in Bandra, a fairly posh area of Northwest Mumbai considered barely in the "suburb" area of the city.

This week we're in Delhi for the last leg of the tour. Tushar is booked for three shows, starting at a cafe tonight, then a brewery on Thursday, and closing on Friday night at a pub, before flying back to the US early on Saturday. If you're in the area, check out our tour page for show and venue details, and come see Tushar perform! The Thursday show at Manhattan Craft Brewery is supposed to be the best venue in India according to comics here, so we're all excited for that. On Wednesday we're visiting the Taj Mahal, so we can at least say we lived up to our blog's header, maybe even get Tushar to do something culturally inappropriate enough to turn even more heads to comedy.

After a rough start for his first few shows in Mumbai for the Pajama Festival, Tushar had a solid mix of ups and downs for the next 5 shows (2 more in Mumbai, 3 in Bangalore). In fact, the only thing we can be sure will bomb over here is the WiFi. After 3 open micers went up at Three Wisemen Bar in Mumbai, Tushar came on as the headliner and really got the crowd going, especially with a bit of crowdwork thanks to an intimate dive bar space. His set in Pune (an otherwise overall unimpressive town) at an open-air venue called High Spirits (pictured above) for about 200 people also went pretty well. 

We were also fortunate enough to have Tushar interview Vir Das, India's father of stand-up comedy, the creator of the Weirdass (pronounce it with an Indian accent... "Viiiiirdasss") Pajama Festival, and minor league Bollywood star. They talked at length about the stand-up scene in India, where it might be headed, and Vir Das offered Tushar advice for connecting with Indian audiences.

The last 3 days of January we spent in Goa, a popular beach resort destination, where Tushar emceed a wedding reception for his Indian-American Chicago relatives. The wedding was a grand production, complete with colorful decor, outdoor buffet, and dancers, but we could all sense Tushar's flustration at somewhat unexpected logistical duties. Don't worry, Tushar, someday it will be you way up high, awkwardly straddling that elephant amongst all your friends and relatives at 8am, leaving all your worries behind, in a mighty trail of dung.

We're now on our 5th day in Bangalore, staying with Tushar's comedian friend Sanjay Manaktala. So far, Tushar has performed here on a show, two open mics, and at the cancer ward of a local hospital for a "Because Laughter is the Best Medicine" show to raise the spirits of cancer patients and doctors there. Every show has been a different challenge for Tushar based on the audience and venue, and he's both been experimenting with some new material, and reverting to the tried (tired?) and true material he knows works in LA.

After 3 more shows here in Bangalore, we head back to Mumbai for a week, and then back to Delhi for a another week, both full of shows. Keep up with our trip photos, clips of Tushar's sets, and other funny production bits on our Facebook or Instagram daily!

It's been a busy first week hopping around to different cities by van and plane. After about 28 hours of travel time, we finally landed in Delhi last Sunday. Tushar's cousin Anu was nice enough to help us get around the city and set up at a hotel, right after gorging on our first full Indian meal at an upscale food court (where we were each patted down at least twice before entering). We visited the Indian Institute of Technology, where Tushar's dad Vikram taught, and spent the afternoon catching up with his college friend Arun, during which time we discovered from Tushar's mom, Bina, that Vikram had written down a lot of original jokes on paper (note: find these in Huntsville!). 

Later in the day we made a short flight to Lucknow, Bina's hometown, where Tushar's cousin Anshu and wife Alankrita were extremely generous, letting us all stay in their 10th floor condo in the city. On Tuesday in Lucknow, Tushar consulted an astrologer who, after complex computer and handwritten analysis, was able to give us a soft date for his wedding: JUNE 2016! (Bride TBA)

By late afternoon we were in a van for the 4-hour drive to Pyagpur, Vikram's home village. By American standards, the traffic in India is a legitimate clusterfuck, or what Tushar refers to as "a casual game of chicken." The zero-sum game always tends to work out though, as everyone acts as a team player to avoid collisions between any number of bicycles, vans, cars, pedestrians, trucks, rickshaws, wagons, scooters, and motorcycles all vying for just enough room to keep traffic moving at all times. In Pyagpur, we were graciously taken in by Tushar's great uncle and other relatives and family friends of his father. We were treated to a full spread of home-cooked dishes, and all the chai (and more) than we could ask for. Temps got down to the high 40's (Fahrenheit...still holding on to some American ways), so we all gathered around a late fire, where Jamey serenaded the group with his ukelele. The next morning we made more tours of the village, and of course, we couldn't leave without consulting another priest about Tushar's future. The verdict? Marriage even sooner than the astrologer predicted! At this point, just be on call for a wedding on any given Saturday night.

One more flight later, and we reached Mumbai, where we're spending a week. On our first night, we caught a show at India's premier and currently only dedicated comedy club, Canvas Laugh Club, where Tushar will perform on Feb 12th and 15th, when we return to Mumbai later in the American Hasi Tour. The host did his set almost entirely in Hindi (about 30 minutes of me nodding off), and the headliner was a seasoned female comic who, to the surprise of our cultural expectations, made open remarks about being gay.

On Friday, Tushar performed his first show for a packed bar in the Colaba district as part of the Weirdass Pajama Festival, India's largest comedy festival. I wish I could report that things went better, but I'll give Tushar credit for sweating it out on stage and bombing like a champ. Following the show, and back at the hotel (where many comedians are also staying), Tushar got a lot of input from other comedians about how to adapt his jokes and style to please the local crowds. On Saturday, he got an unexpected short spot and already showed signs of making improvements. 

Today we're off to see Tushar perform two more shows for the Pajama Festival!

Everyone is busy packing up, organizing film equipment, and downing pills to ward off typhoid fever and malaria. This Friday night Tushar, Bina (Tushar's mom), Laura, Jamey, and me (Court) push off from Atlanta for Delhi. I can only assume Tushar will be spending all 38 hours (or whatever it takes to cross 10 oceans) performing local stand-up for rows 43A-47E. If you miss that flight, you can find him on stage in Mumbai, Lucknow, Pune, Goa, Bangalore, and Delhi performing at a wide variety of shows including comedy clubs, bars, and emceeing a wedding! Here are the tour deets we've locked down so far.

We hope you'll follow us on this 35-day comedy tour via this blog, our Facebook page, or Instagram for tour highlights, video clips, and Tuss-isms!