Drag’s the way

On global drag pioneer RuPaul’s birthday, three Indian performers tell us about their journeys and motivations

Being vulnerable

One thing Ru Paul says is that we are all born naked and the rest is drag. That’s how I’d like to sum up my journey. The first time I actually performed as a drag artiste was at Kitty Su in 2019. Section 377 had already been abolished and I had the time of my life. But we as a society need to stop caricaturising drag artistes. Let’s treat them with the respect they deserve, and remove the ridicule, fear and internalised patriarchy in women themselves. When we talk about cis het men, we talk about them sexualising drag queens. There is nothing wrong in being sexual, we are expressing  our sensuality. But there is a fine line between respecting that sensuality as art and wanting to exert power, be it in the form of money or physical strength over a human being just because of the vulnerability they are expressing through their sensuality. Also, when it comes to RuPaul, he has been slammed as a transphobe. But if you dig deep into YouTube, you will find him as a person in their 20s walking down the street with a camcorder and asking transvestites what they feel about their lives. My point is that the cancel culture that our generation has so vehemently taken up is really vicious. Don’t base the entirety of a human being’s character based on one mistake they have made online.

Bidisha Mohanta aka Badshah Mayur, 25

No doubting it

I was inspired to become a drag artiste after watching Mrs Doubtfire [a film in which Robin Williams dresses up as a woman]. I felt that if Robin Williams can do drag, then I can do it too. Then I saw Chachi 420 [the Bollywood remake] and did some research on people like Dame Edna and Rupaul, and a whole new world opened up for me. The purpose of drag is to educate people about the LGBTQiA+ community and about drag as an art form. I think people’s perceptions are slowly opening up here in India, though many are still ignorant. They don’t understand our art form, even though it’s been here in some form or the other for centuries. I am originally from Kerala, where they have kathakali. Women weren’t allowed to perform in the past and men had to don the role of various goddesses. It’s the same concept. It’s just that we have separated drag as an art form and not connected it to anything else.

Alex Mathew aka Maya the Drag Queen, 33

Crossing borders

I’m pretty stoked to have completed four years as a drag artiste in 2021. Before the pandemic, having the audience cheering you on [at live gigs] — the give and take of that energy — felt good. You could go into the middle of the crowd and get people on stage to make them do crazy stuff. But there was then a limit to what you could do on Zoom during the lockdowns. Also, not every artiste in India had a safe space to perform in when the venues were shut. There are people who stay as paying guests, where they can’t physically have a show. I have a lot of friends who stay in hostels and people do harass them, saying they are cross-dressers. No one seems to know the difference between a cross-dresser and a drag queen — one is a personal interest and the other is a performance on stage. That sensitisation hasn’t happened, and it’s like calling all South Indians Madrasis. The first need is to sensitise the LGBTQiA+ community itself, since many members feel that if you are feminine in nature, you must be a cross-dresser. Outside of that, there is a Bollywood movie about a trans person coming up. It is kind of a breakthrough in relation to Bollywood portraying such storylines. But they could have sought out a trans actor to play the role. So, on one hand it’s a big win, and on the other it’s not.  

Siddhant Kodlekere aka Lady Bai, 28

Venues for drag in Mumbai

Kitty Su, the nightclub at The Lalit hotel, is the foremost establishment that has promoted drag performances in the city with dedicated nights. That apart, Soho House in Juhu recently hosted a drag event. Gentleman Gaga, a Mumbai-based drag artiste, tells us that Dragonfly Experience, a venue in Marol, was also supposed to start hosting drag events before the second wave of the pandemic hit.

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