Four years after Kaksha Gyarvi, comedian and poet Zakir Khan is back with his third standup special, Tathastu. This is a story about him, his joint family and its most celebrated member, sitar maestro Padma Shri Ustad Moinuddin Khan. The tribute starts with his very garb—embroidered black kurta with white pyjamas, against the backdrop of white arched doors. He is otherwise seen wearing jeans paired with a shirt (unbuttoned) over his T shirt. The ambience is that of a classical music concert, and that’s intentional. He also requests the audience to wear Indian clothes.  

“It is a very personal story,” says Khan over a call, adding, “After my grandfather’s demise, whenever I would tell my friends about him or things that I learnt from him, they would ask me to do a special on him. The difficult part was talking about my grandfather in a way that everyone else could relate to.”