At Zakir Khan’s historic Madison Square Garden event: ‘Sakht launda, narm dil’

It was the first time that an Indian standup comic Zakir Khan had performed at the esteemed venue in Hindi, filling the massive stadium with over 15,000 people who had travelled by train, car, and even flown into New York to be a part of this historic event.

Written by Saraswati Datar

Updated: August 20, 2025 07:41 PM IST

Zakir Khan recently performed at New York's Madison Square Garden. (Photo: Zakir Khan /Instagram)

There is an iconic scene in the movie Lakshya where Hrithik Roshan stands at the Indo-Pak border and says that, though he had always known he was an Indian, until that moment, he had never truly experienced this reality emotionally. For me, that moment was on the 17th of August when I saw Zakir Khan perform at Madison Square Garden. It was the first time that an Indian standup comic had performed at the esteemed venue in Hindi, filling the massive stadium with over 15,000 people who had travelled by train, car, and even flown into New York to be a part of this historic event. Zakir’s good friend Tanmay Bhat and popular American comedian, writer and actor Hasan Minhaj opened the evening for him.

Zakir Khan has distinguished himself from his peers by creating a mosaic of humour, pathos, narrative and the bittersweet truths of the human condition through his performances. His family and close friends are an integral part of his sets and stories, and on this special evening, Kuntal, Vishwas, his mother, and most importantly, his father were all with us in story and spirit. Zakir’s performance was titled ‘Papa yaar’, and for two hours, he took us down memory lane, into the gullies of Indore, telling us how his relationship with his father evolved, and evocatively recreating what life was like before social media, smartphones and millions of different parenting styles. To be fair, there were elements from a lot of his previous specials like Class, Kaksha Gyarvi, Haq Se Single and my personal favourite Tathastu. But the presentation was just as impactful. The ease with which Zakir moves from humour to heartbreak and back to humour again is something that never fails to amaze me. He plays to the galleries with jokes about his ex-girlfriend and how men will be men, but he also makes space for the poet and philosopher in him. Amidst the laughter, he gently diverts us onto another path, forcing us to think, feel, fall in love with language and acknowledge that our parents are imperfect but irreplaceable.

Also read | Zakir Khan scripts history with first-ever Hindi comedy show at Madison Square Garden; Hasan Minhaj says, ‘My parents love him more than me now’. Watch

While Zakir kept us engaged for over two hours, what was also special was the atmosphere inside the venue. There was such an overwhelming sense of pride and patriotism in the air. A man from our country was performing at the same venue that has seen artists like Elvis Presley, John Lennon, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Madonna, Elton John, Stevie Wonder, U2, and Bruce Springsteen. We smiled at each other, took pictures of each other and guffawed together when reminded of how parents in the 90s focused on three main things: feeding us, educating us, and disciplining us with a variety of slaps and whacks. Yet when the time came, they let us go. Let us leave home, let us leave them behind, and let us make mistakes as we seek our purpose and identity.

There were two extra special moments that evening. The first was when Zakir called his parents on a video call after his performance and had all of us say ‘Thank you, Papa’ together. The joy and pride on their face to see their son fulfil his dreams and find so much appreciation was heartwarming. The second was when all of us turned on the torchlight on our phones for a picture and became a night sky of shining lights for the man who dared to soar.

My friend and I had dressed in Indian clothes, since Zakir had said, “kurta pehen ke aiye, sundar ban ke aiye”. Ordinarily, I feel conscious about wearing my Indian clothes in public in the US since it makes me feel like the odd one out. All the stereotyping in cinema, television, and now OTT content has not helped things either. But that day, we wore our Indian finery with pride. People all around us had come dressed in Kurtas, sarees, Salwar kameez or western clothes. But each one of us there wore our identity as an Indian or person of Indian origin with pride. In the current political environment in the United States, where racial minorities are being made to feel unsafe, and India is being targeted with tariffs and punitive economic measures, gathering in such a large group at Madison Square Garden and later Times Square was a moment of great significance.

In addition to the thousands of Indians there, there were also Zakir’s fans of Pakistani origin in the audience. A man from Karachi was three seats away, and two more men of Pakistani origin were sitting in the row ahead. If he hadn’t said he was from Karachi, I would have never known. Here, thousands of miles away in America, we are just brown immigrants looking to forge a connection to home, our childhood, and the experience of growing up in the subcontinent. Blending in while living in a foreign country often demands erasing parts of yourself that cause you to be othered. Thanks to Zakir Khan, for two hours, all of us at Madison Square Garden felt whole again and laughed like we do when we are in a safe space.

Editor's Choice