During the two hours 23-year-old Sara Khan will spend getting her body painted a subliminal blue on Sunday morning, in that stillness of posture, her mind would reflect on her six-month old journey where she's challenged an essentially male dominated bastion of cosplay. Among a group of characters that are masochist and typically masculine, she is cosplaying a female warrior, a fallen princess who has been wronged, at the Alto Indian Championship of Cosplay being held in Delhi.
During the two hours 23-year-old Sara Khan will spend getting her body painted a subliminal blue on Sunday morning, in that stillness of posture, her mind would reflect on her six-month old journey where she's challenged an essentially male dominated bastion of cosplay. Among a group of characters that are masochist and typically masculine, she is cosplaying a female warrior, a fallen princess who has been wronged, at the Alto Indian Championship of Cosplay being held in Delhi.
Khan and 17-year-old Zara Rebello are the only two female participants in the competition who would be competing with males for the title. Both the girls play Vengeful Spirit, an iconic character from a popular video game, Dota 2. Spirit is famous for her deadly traps and sneakiness, besides the fighting spirit which was primarily why Khan chose to cosplay her after two stints with fairly "simple and easy" characters. "She is very astute for her opponents and discreet in her moves. Spirit is like a fly on the wall. You won't even come to know and she will pull the rug under you. She's a silent assassin," reasons Khan, as she adds smilingly that her beauty is another reason why she was drawn to Spirit. But it was Rebello's obsession with the fighter that motivated her to don her for the contest. "I have been intrigued by her since I was introduced to the game by a friend. She is very mysterious and that makes her a femme fatale," shares the spunky, self confessed tomboy from Nashik who attributes her gaming skills to her four elder cousins.
With largely male contestants around them in most cosplay events, the fact that sexualising of female characters is the mainstay of all online games doesn't escape their watchful eye. In tandem, the girls say that the idea behind cosplaying strong characters is to question this schema that video games is all about boys. "Gaming is considered a male thing generally. So when a woman plays them or role plays the characters, it does draw eyeballs. Men definitely can carry heavier costumes well but that should not mean women are any less in cosplaying. The gender divide, however, does creep in," feels Khan. Her views are stipulated by her counterpart who feels that the prejudice is evident even when the contestants are judged. "Male characters are more attractive because of their armoury and heavy costumes. So they are given more preference. Female characters because of the sexualised concept in games, are looked a certain way. We are trying to break the glass ceiling,"asserts Rebello.
What drew them to cosplay
As a design student, Khan knew how to sketch and her stint at college taught her stitching too. She says that she was comfortable with all the elements of cosplay, making it easier for her to be part of it. On the other hand, there was no looking back after Rebello starred as Joker during Halloween two years ago. "I met a few professional cosplayers at the Mumbai Comicon last year who introduced me to the group. I have played a range of characters like Poison Ivy, Queen of Pain, Templar Assassin earlier," she states, adding that coming from a family of artists also played a role.
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