Donning your inner avatar: The rise of cosplay community in India

Cosplay in India is becoming a thriving subculture driven by a passion for pop culture, meticulous craftsmanship, and a growing sense of community

During the first-ever Comic Con India, held during an unusually cloudy February weekend in Delhi 10 years ago, its founder Jatin Varma, was cosplaying as Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek. He did not, however, shave his head to resemble the character. “So, I think a few people were confused about who I was,” he chuckles.

Though dressing up as characters from folklore and mythology has been a part of many Indian traditions, cosplaying (dressing up as a character from pop culture) was relatively new back then. As the founder of a festival that celebrates pop culture, Jatin was keen on making cosplay an essential part of the festival right from its first edition. So, he ensured he cosplayed with his entire team. “I thought it’d just be us. But we had 25 cosplayers that year, more than I expected,” he says, “I was happy.” All the participants in that edition got gift hampers.

At the most recent edition of Comic Con India, approximately 3,000 enthusiastic cosplayers graced the cities hosting the event. They stood a chance to win a daily cash prize of 1.15 lakh. The total prize pool was over five lakh. 

“Cosplay has become so popular that even in cities where we don’t host Comic Con events — smaller cities such as Nagpur and Lucknow — there are dedicated clubs and groups for cosplay. Some people even travel to our events from different cities,” says Jatin.

The surge of cosplay culture in India is due to various catalysts. An uptick in exposure to global pop culture, including anime, manga and Western media, thanks to online streaming, has ignited a passion for cosplay as a medium to channel fandom and immerse fans in their beloved characters. 

What sets cosplaying apart from fancy dress competitions or Halloween costume events is the level of detailing that goes into it. The craftsmanship of costume and prop-making within the Indian cosplay realm has increased tremendously since the 2013 Comic Con India. 

Medha Srivastava, a Mumbai-based cosplayer, for instance, spent about nine hours every day for several weeks designing her costume for Alexstrasza, a character from the game World of Warcraft, for the latest Indian Championship of Cosplay (conducted by Comic Con India).