Vogue India June 2019

102 VOGUEINDIAJUNE 2019 http://www.vogue.in

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RaniKo-HE-Nuris

SushantDivgikar’sdrag

avatarthatbringsoutan

innerstrengthandpower

throughherglamour

notonlybringingininternationalacts

butalsobymentoringlocaltalent.Di-

vgikarsays,“He(Suri)verypatiently

satmethrough it andthoughtofthe

nameandthepunin thenameKo-HE-

Nuraswell—I’mstilla manwhoem-

bodies a woman while performing,

thereforethepronounHe.”

ForSurithisgoesbeyonda commer-

ciallysuccessfulnightathisnightclub;

thisis aboutcreatinganenvironment

to empowerperformersandaudiences.

He adds, “Sushant is a phenomenal

artist.Hesings inbothmaleand fe-

male voicebeautifully.Draghas em-

poweredRaniandSushant.”Through

theseperformancesDivgikarhasreal-

isedandhoneda talenthenowwants

to taketo Bollywood.Hesays,“I’dlove

toworkwithmoreIndianmusiccom-

posersandmakesomeamazingmusic.

Imagine,I couldplaybackforPriyanka

ChopraandRanveerSingh.Justput-

tingit outthere!”

DRESSEDUP

So,howdoesdragempower?If mini-

malism frees you from materiality,

dragemploysmaximalismtofreeyou

fromrestrictivesocietalcodesthrough

irreverence,entertainmentandexcess.

“Dragisaboutwit, sarcasmand the

unabashed portrayal of your ‘self’,

your belief and dreams.The fine art of

slaying it with words, breaking and

questioningtheshacklesofsociety.It

is a worldofdress-up!It is alloverthe

top—words,makeup,clothing.It’sthe

ultimatepunonsocietyanditsnorms,”

explains Suri. Divgikar emphatically

agrees,“Dragallowsmetobringtolife

Rani!Whatcanbemoreempowering

thanembodyinganalphawoman?”Di-

vgikar/Rani has embraceda more-is-

moreoutlooknow,buthedoesn’tbe-

lieve there is one standard code for

drag.Infact,hesteersclearof homog-

enisinghisart,insteadensuringit is a

celebrationofdiversityeveninbelief.

He continues,“I definitelythink more

is more.Mydragis elegant,risquéand

definitelyOTT. But my idea of drag is

not the universal norm and neither

shouldit bethatway.Everyindividual

whochoosestodragaddshis/her/their

flavour to their avatars and I think

that’sthebeautyof it.Butmoreis not

always more. Sometimes, subtlety is

alsoa virtue.”n

OneofthefirstperformingdragqueensofIndiaoutlineshowbeing

RaniKo-HE-Nurhasunleashedthealphafemalein them

SUSHANTDIVGIKAR

There’sa reasontheinternetis over-

flowingwithdragmakeuptutorialvid-

eos—there’sthenail-bitingbeforeand

after, the drama of contouring,and fi-

nally,thepowerof transformationof a

naked-faced man into a true queen.

Dragculture,atitsheart,usestheart

of shapeshifting to question societal

constructs and binaries, empowering

through pageantry—and in August

2017, India got its first performing

dragqueeninSushantDivgikar.He’s

a formerMrGayIndiaandactorwho

debutedasRaniKo-HE-Nur atKitty

SuattheLalitinDelhi,andwithina

year he becamethe first Indiandrag

performeron nationaltelevision, and

todayhetoursacrossthecountrywith

hisart.Hismissionis seeminglysim-

ple,hesays: “RaniKo-HE-Nur is the

queenofheartsandI’mgoingtocon-

tinuemakingpeople happyandwin-

ningtheirheartseverytimeI taketo

thestage.”ButDivgikaras Ranihas

achieveda lotmorethanhappyaudi-

ences—together, they’ve become an

iconof a newemancipatedidealof gen-

der,sexualityandfreedom.

BREAKINGFREE

Indiamightbea wayawayfromhost-

ingourversionofRuPaul’sDragRace,

butoverthepastfewyearsdragcul-

ture is slowly findingits place this side

ofthe world.And it’s thanks tothe

work done byKeshav Suri, hotelier,

LGBTQI+advocateandthe manbe-

hindKittySu(theinclusivenightclub

renownedforitsregulardragnights).

AndSuriis buildinga communityby