Nestam is planning The Vizag Drag Show, India’s first Telugu drag event, on January 23, 2022, in partnership with Whiz of Vizag (WoV). It’ll be a two-hour internet event commencing at 6 p.m. on Sunday. Patruni Chidananda Sastry, alias Suffocated Art Specimen, will be the show’s special guest, having performed over 200 drag shows across the country. The presentation, which was originally planned as an offline event, has now gone virtual due to the increase in COVID-19 instances.
But, exactly, what is a drag show? What happens during a drag show? According to Shiva from Nestam, drag is an art form that originated in Western culture but is now also done in India. Drag is a performance where gender is performed for entertainment in this style of presentation.
A male participant, for example, wears a feminine costume, whereas the female participants dress masculinely. It isn’t always a case of one gender vs. the other. Drag is a term used to describe the act of changing one’s gender through the use of makeup, clothing, and acting as a character. The performers frequently dress up to represent an exaggerated gender stereotype and acceptance of all genders. Patruni Sastry met Nestam through a mutual drag acquaintance, Shiva said.
Patruni decided to appear as a special guest for The Vizag Drag Show after performing his first drag show in Hyderabad on June 9, 2019. When asked why they decided to have a drag show in Vizag, Shiva explained that they wanted to promote the notion of drag to Visakhapatnam and so integrate it into Telugu society.
The Vizag Drag Show organisers have scheduled a multitude of dancing, singing, and dramatic performances to showcase the drag culture to Vizag. Patruni will be the drag performer, along with a few others from the Vizag and Hyderabad gay communities, according to Shiva.
When asked about the partnership with Whiz of Vizag, Shiva explained that Hayathi, co-founder of Nestam, had been following WoV’s social activities and chose to bring them on board with the intention of reaching a larger audience. Nestam intends to do such events on a monthly basis in the future to raise awareness about drag in Vizag.
Those interested in attending online can do so by contacting Nestam or Whiz of Vizag via their Instagram accounts.
