Vir Das made history this morning, when he won the International Emmy for Comedy at the International Emmy Awards 2023 for his Netflix special Vir Das: Landing, sharing the top honours with season 3 of award-winning British sitcom Derry Girls. This was Das’s second Emmy nomination—after 2021’s Vir Das: For India—and his first win, making him the first Indian comedian ever to take home the prestigious award.

“This moment is truly surreal–an incredible honor that feels like a dream,” Das said in a statement shared by Netflix India. “Winning an Emmy for Vir Das: Landing in the ‘Comedy Category’ is not just a milestone for me but for Indian comedy as a whole. It’s heartening to see Vir Das: Landing resonate globally, thanks to Netflix, Aakash Sharma and Reg Tigerman who made it special. My journey from crafting local stories to receiving a global accolade has been both challenging and rewarding, and Netflix has been instrumental in that growth. I’m excited about the continued exploration of diverse narratives, from Noida to the International Emmys—India gets you there.”

Just a day before the awards ceremony, which was held in New York, Das had posted a clip on Instagram in which he talked about the struggles he’s faced to reach this point. “On the night I was called a terrorist, I was nominated for the International Emmy Awards,” he said in the video, referring to the controversy that followed his performance of a poem about “Two Indias” at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. “The universe is a full circle,” he wrote in the caption. “So just wanted to say thanks 🙏 and that if anyone out there is ever in the dark, stay till sunlight, and know that love will find you, and the universe will carry you.”

Vir Das: Landing and Derry Girls beat out stiff competition in their category from French TV series Le Flambeau and Argentinian TV comedy El encargado. The ceremony also saw Ekta Kapoor being honoured with the Directorate Award for her “trailblazing career and impact on the Indian television landscape.” Shefali Shah and Jim Sarbh were also among the nominees this year, earning nods for Best Actress and Best Actor for their work on Netflix procedural drama Delhi Crime and BBC One police drama The Responder, respectively.