HYDERABAD: After more than eight months of lockdown, it was the very first time that artistes came back to the stage. On Sunday evening, Shilparamam Madhapur opened its doors to the art of Drag. Drag is an art form which has been there for ages in India, but was never considered part of mainstream art. It was the very first time in the state when Drag was represented in a state-owned organisation.
Hyderabad-based dancer and drag artiste Patruni Sastry and their team of performers — including Raghavendra Chivukula, Sajiv Pasala, Dheeraj Gupta and Ganeshan Chandran — presented a Drag interpretation of an ancient mythological story of Mohini Bhasmasura. Explaining the concept to the people Patruni said, “Mohini and Bhasmasura story is a tale for today’s world. Bhasmasura, a God-made accident, created havoc in the world which ultimately needed to be tamed by Mohini by asking the rakshasa to come in a dance battle.
The story draws comparison with the current situation of how we are combating corona.” Sajiv Pasala played Bhasmasura, dragged in an androgynous form with colours reflecting neon and translucent painted face. Mohini was played by Patruni Sastry with their regular exaggerated dress-up as tranimal drag. Ganesha Chandran played the Shiva while Dheeraj and Raghavendra were the ‘corona-sura’. (a hypothetical demon depicting coronavirus).
The first performance narrated the story of how Shiva grants a boon to Bhasmasura, that whoever he puts his hand on would turn to ashes. This puts Shiva’s life in stake when Bhasmasura tried to put his hand on Shiva himself. Following this, Shiva runs to Vishnu for rescue. The second performance was an artistic representation performed by Patruni where they showcased how Vishnu transformed into Mohini, bringing in the idea of gender fluidity.
Here, they used two masks — one of a man and other of a woman — to showcase the idea of gender fluidity of the character. The third performance was the dance battle between Mohini and Bhasmasura, followed by a final performance where they depicted an extrapolation of how Mohini would fight coronasura, by maintaining social distancing, washing hands and wearing masks. The event ended with Patruni thanking Shilparamam for providing an opportunity to bring drag into the cultural hub of the city.