One of Canada's very own comedians is kicking off Comedy Central's foray into live entertainment in India, the U.S. cable TV channel announced.

Montreal-born Samir Khullar, better known as Sugar Sammy, will be heading to his parents' homeland in mid-March for three stand-up shows performed in Hindi and Punjabi – Khullar's first language.

“It's a great market,” said Khullar, 37. “I'm pretty excited about the prospect of having a billion people out there in India.”

He's performed in India before – once in Mumbai and once in New Delhi in 2009 – but to much smaller audiences. This time the shows are expecting about 1,000 people a night. And judging by his popularity on social networks in India, Khullar expects more shows to be added.

Now back to his roots.

“India may never be the same,” his promoters trumpeted in a news release, “after (Khullar) brings his comedy and his views on his Indian roots, world travels, arranged marriages, pop culture and modern-day relationships to the homeland.”

The idea came about last August, when Comedy Central India aired Khullar's TV special Live in Montreal, shot in 2009.

“No one could have predicted the tidal wave of viewer response that airing unleashed,” recalled Ferzad Palia, general manager of Indian cable network Viacom18 Media.

“When we aired Live in Montreal in India, fans reacted by the thousands on social media, demanding to see him live in India,” Palia said. “And we realized that it was a great idea and a perfect fit.

“We hope to see more of his brand of comedy here in India – global, international and yet extremely relevant to our viewers.”

Khullar has done more than 1,000 shows in 30 countries, selling more than 120,000 tickets in the past year alone. His latest tour ranked 30th in gross sales in North America over the past three months.

And although he's taking the international leap, Khullar insists he'll stay true to his Indo-Canadian roots.

“The Quebec tour is going to at least the end of 2015 – it's just crazy. And there's a Canadian tour coming in 2014, coast to coast,” he said.

Tickets for the Indian shows went on sale in India Wednesday, with Khullar performing in Bangalore on March 15, New Delhi on March 16 and Mumbai on March 17.