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What it takes to be a Drag Queen in India
India Today
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2 days ago
Strobe lights, sequin curtains, and hours in makeup — India’s drag performers bring more than glamour to the stage.
Category
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News
Transcript
Display full video transcript
00:00
I'm behind-the-scenes BTS.
00:03
The hardest part of drag is not being able to pee or blow your nose when you want to.
00:08
We have never been to a drag show.
00:10
So we are taking you along too.
00:18
There were strobe lights.
00:19
Okay, let's go.
00:21
Sequin curtains.
00:24
And someone in a wig adjusting their lashes like they were born with them.
00:30
A drag performance is where you see us getting into our fabulous avatars.
00:34
It's scripted storytelling.
00:36
But wait, what's up with that accent?
00:38
Because once you're in this get-up in Babish, you access some other part of your personality.
00:45
B****!
00:46
You dare!
00:47
So it's not always on purpose, but yes, you will definitely see a shift in our characters,
00:52
in the way we speak, in the adha that we display.
00:55
Still, some people don't see it as a respectable profession.
00:58
Who is saying that?
01:00
Tell me to meet, meet me.
01:02
Tell them to meet me like after the show.
01:04
It's a lot of makeup.
01:05
It's a lot of undergarments.
01:06
It's really hot.
01:07
It's really sweaty.
01:08
So I think that drag is not an endurance sport.
01:12
So being in those heels for eight plus hours is quite crazy.
01:15
By the way, drag drag drag drag.
01:18
This term is said to have come from 19th century theatre in Britain, when men dressed as women
01:23
in long gowns that literally dragged across the floor.
01:26
So stagehands started calling it drag.
01:29
Rehearsals are too much.
01:31
That's the most popular theory.
01:33
But over time, the word found its way into queer spaces.
01:38
Possibly through Pallari, a secret slang once used by LGBTQ plus communities in Britain
01:44
to speak freely while staying safe.
01:46
Today, a drag queen usually performs exaggerated femininity.
01:50
A drag gang does the same with masculinity.
01:53
Very Oyama.
01:54
But what made us curious is how they learn all this.
01:57
Is there like a drag school?
01:59
I make up what you see right now.
02:00
It's eye copy from somebody else.
02:03
The lips I tend to inspire by some other drag queens.
02:06
So we all learn together only.
02:07
That's how we grow and we're still together.
02:10
It's everybody taking tricks from each other.
02:12
And with that, if you've never been to a drag show, now you kinda have.
02:16
Next time, come scream in the front row.
02:25
Because we are amuring in this film.
02:26
It's walking out.
02:27
We really don't understand how to move.
02:28
We don't necessarily stand any further.
02:30
We are always okay.
02:31
We're always okay.
02:32
We will be right back.
02:35
We're sorry.
02:36
We're not okay.
02:37
We're not sure.
02:38
We're not okay.
02:39
We're not okay.
02:40
We are okay.
02:41
We're okay.
02:42
We're not okay.
02:43
We're okay.
02:44
We're here.
02:45
We're okay.
02:46
It's okay.
02:47
We're okay.
02:48
You're okay.
02:49
Okay.
02:51
But what I know?
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