It’s a challenge to get through to Varun Grover on a busy Thursday morning. Writer, filmmaker, poet, a National Award-winning lyricist and a sharp satirist — Grover juggles multiple roles. It is no surprise that his day is packed with meetings. Yet, he makes time.  

“Honest and real observations that relate to people are what defines good comedy,” the Lucknowite-turned-Mumbaikar begins. His upcoming set on the weekend, Nothing Makes Sense, is built around such observations of an India that Grover grew up in and lived through during the 1990s and early 2000s, and how it has evolved. Yet, his comedy is as sensitive to the world around him as his other writing. “There is a sense of awareness and a social responsibility [in stand-up comedy]. What you talk about must have some value in it,” he says.