Azeem Banatwalla has released his brand new standup special ‘Between The Lines’ on YouTube, and the comedian, writer and football fan sat down with us to discuss the new special on the latest episode of DA ChatRoom. Banatwalla opens up about being an “equal opportunity offender”, trying out a new subscription model and watching Chelsea lift the Champions League.

‘Between The Lines’ is available for The Special Ones or tier 3 subscribers of Banatwalla’s YouTube channel. Membership costs Rs. 299 per month and in addition to the special they also get access to his monthly trial shows.

The comedian dodged a bullet by taping the special a few weeks before the second lockdown. But it was still far from easy. “It was taxing, yes,” he told DeadAnt on Thursday. “We had to do it with minimal crew, following all the guidelines, and only half the room capacity sold. But our audiences were amazing and you could barely tell!”

Banatwalla decided to experiment with this monetisation model because, “nobody wanted to buy it,” he says. “It’s hard enough doing comedy here in English these days, and even harder if you’re trying to talk about current affairs. So I took a chance on a model nobody’s really tried in India before.”

Banatwalla is hopeful that his success would open up newer avenues for artists knowing that the audiences have got their backs.

Catch the latest episode of DA ChatRoom on our YouTube channel, or watch below.