CHENNAI: In a warm pink room at ICSA, overlooking the busy Pantheon Road, city-based drag artists Jenny Jett Jigarthanda and Nethu Night Neelambari perform, creating history. On a Sunday evening, themed Valentine’s a drag, Chennai-based queer collective Orinam nudges people to ditch the overhyped and commercialised day of love and consider the drag of endless possibilities.
With no further ado, dressed in carefully styled jewellery and saris, the drag performers invite spectators to gaze into a kaleidoscope of old film snippets and leave them dissolving in giggles. From the telltale tune of Chandramukhi’s Ra Ra to the ever-nostalgic Kanmani Anbodu and Pazham Neeyappa, the performers pay tribute to childhood peppered with South Indian melodies while poking fun at the lyrics.
Armed with props like fans, a bell, and flutes, the duo carefully stitches up a routine with humorous jump-cuts and the strategy of ‘expect the unexpected.’ Interspersed with open mic performances, the stage remains an open space for easy banter and dirty jokes. It also opened a world for a young lesbian couple to slow-dance and a person to come out for the first time.
Of humour & Tamil songs
Speaking to CE in the green room after the performance, Neelambari says the performance aims to refute the stereotype that only western songs or RuPaul’s Drag Race can be drag.
“We would like to tell people that drag isn’t just about moving the body or showing everything, it is also communicating to people that they can be themselves, express their femininity, and all those things. Drag queens were also in the Stonewall Riot...I want to tell younger people who are trying to put on make-up for the first time or getting in touch with their feminine side that it’s okay. I also want to push them [Jigarthanda]. When I was 18, I wished someone would come up to me and tell me we can do drag, that there’s a safe space where you can be yourself,” says the 26-year-old artiste.
The artistes agree that their favourite snippet of the performance is Vanden Vanden from Panchatanthiram with Simran and Ramya Krishnan engaging in a humourous dance-off. “When I first heard it, it was meme-worthy because she kept repeating the same thing. Then it was a jump-cut. Kamal Haasan songs have humour, and people like those songs but they don’t realise why, so we put a spotlight on them here,” says Neelambari.
Eighteen-year-old Jigarthanda reveals her obsession with Ramya Krishnan. “I want to be Ramya Krishnan so bad, so we decided I could do Ramya Krishnan and Neelambari will do the opposite. We had the intention of not performing item songs. Drag queens never perform item songs so we can have deep meaning, it’s not always about quick laughs. We wanted to perform in Tamil for the Tamil audience.”
Queer-affirmative venue
Jenny’s doting mother, Hamsavalli, doesn’t leave the venue without numerous videos and photographs of the performance. “The performance was semma and I enjoyed it. This is Jigarthanda’s dream and Neelambari is a great companion. I think whatever I should do to support them I will, and I will do what I can to help them,” she says.
Hamsavalli recalls that this is the drag queens’ second time setting fire to a stage — the first time they wowed an audience was Orinam’s 19th anniversary on December 26, 2022. “This show was brought back on popular demand and the idea took root during an Orinam support group meeting,” says Pradeep, an organiser. They also flag the difficulties in locating a queer-affirmative venue for the event, keeping in mind a stringent budget. “When people come, we want to avoid any problems. We want them to come and leave safely as well. Often when people dress flashily, people stare and then follow them. We’ve seen this before and would like to avoid this. We’ve had events at ICSA before so we chose this venue,” they add.
Despite time constraints, the organisers are indulgent with performances. There’s always time for people to serenade their lovers in Jaipur with AR Rahman and KS Chithra’s Kannalane or for someone to read a short poem about longing for love and pleasure.
Taking up space, feeling safe
Harish, emcee and organiser, points out there’s nothing called Tamil drag yet. Speaking about the importance of queer arts and having an audience for young queer people, he says that it makes people question themselves and the experience travels with word of mouth. “There is no way I can go to any other open mic and expect people to understand me. This exists because when a woman says I couldn’t say out loud I’m lesbian, we all get choked because that is our experience. We think you all understand, instead of hearing and letting me speak, we are in this together,” Harish says, adding that these spaces give voices to people.
As the cosy evening winds up, Harish requests feedback, asks the participants if they want to share, and thanks them for attending. The audience doesn’t leave without a reminder from Harish on self-love and a gentle reminder to return. As history is performed, trans activist Marsha P Johnson comes to mind: “History isn’t something you look back at and say it was inevitable, it happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities.”
Chennai-based Orinam functions as a repository, support, cultural, and activist space. It organises meet-ups, peer counselling, and workshops and has a crisis page on orinam.net/resources-for/lgbt/crisis-support