Inside Chennai’s growing cosplay scene ahead of Comic Con India Chennai chapter

In place of coffee cups lay a pair of shining gauntlets, taking up a table’s worth of space at Chennai’s Hard Rock Cafe. Beside it, a glowing red LED helmet was held up to the crowd, drawing the attention of over a hundred cosplay enthusiasts.

With the third edition of Comic Con Chennai right around the corner, the city’s growing cosplay community came together at a Cosplay 101 workshop on January 25. People were drawn to the workshop for different reasons — some looking to up their cosplay game and others out of sheer curiosity. The event was hosted by Chennai pro-cosplayers, Logesh Rajah and Suriya Banu, along with Mumbai-based award winning cosplayer, Akshay Churi. While Mumbai has been a longtime player in the cosplay scene, cosplay culture in Chennai has begun gaining momentum more recently

Cosplay in the everyday

“Does anyone know how cosplay started?” Logesh Rajah asks the audience before referring to an American highschooler from the 1970s who happened to dress as a character from the Star Trek film franchise. Bringing up an example closer home, he recounts a screening of the 2013 Kollywood film,Thalaivaa, where fans arrived dressed in white shirts and blue trousers inspired by the lead character. “That’s when I realised, we’ve already been doing cosplay for a long time,” Logesh says. Reciting an iconic dialogue or simply mimicking a character’s gait, he adds, are also forms of cosplay.

For many, identifying with characters is as important as an impressive costume. “It felt like my childhood heroes were brought to life,” says 26-year-old data analyst Ashwin Karthik, on his experience at the 2024 Chennai Comic Con. For him and others, cosplay means a chance to see real-life versions of the characters they have long identified with.

From wigs to WhatsApp groups

The rise of cosplay in recent years can largely be attributed to social media. A social media alias or ‘cosplay handle’ is now common practice. In fact, Suriya Banu is perhaps more popularly known by her cosplay handle, Hikari Jane. Suriya or rather, Hikari, explains, “Suriya means sun, and Hikari means light in Japanese. So, from the sun comes the light.” As an anime fan, her cosplays often feature the brightly-coloured hair spikes characteristic of anime protagonists. To achieve that signature gravity-defying hair is no easy feat. “One of the main things people struggle with when cosplaying is wigs,” she says. Choosing the right wig is essential. Factors like heat resistance, stylability, and shape make all the difference. She says to ditch traditional shopping sites and instead explore Instagram businesses when on the hunt for that perfect wig.

Platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and WhatsApp all serve as tools for cosplayers to share and imbibe knowledge of the craft. WhatsApp group chats, for instance, have made it possible for cosplayers to trade both wigs and advice.

Cosplay as community

For Akshay, cosplay seemed foreign at first. “I knew cosplay existed in the West, but I did not know it had such a presence in India,” he says. The discovery prompted him to create his first costume — a recreation of Marvel’s Iron Man. Even for a cosplayer as well versed as Akshay in 3D modelling, muscle suits and foam crafting, the cosplay scene can be competitive. This competitiveness, however, has also fostered a sense of shared identity. “We’re really more friends than cosplay colleagues,” he says, speaking about the community.

“Am I too old? Is my skin tone too dark to play this character? What will my friends think?” Logesh lists the worries a first-time cosplayer may have, much of which he too has had to overcome. In times like this he asks himself, “what would Zoro do?” in reference to the swashbuckling pirate from the manga, One Piece.

Cosplayer and workshop attendee, Rafiaa Khan, shares a similar apprehension. “I was hesitant at first,” she says, chalking it up to a fear of judgment. But upon meeting others with the same passions and fears, she found belonging. “You have one life; you need to live it,” she adds.

Comic Con India, Chennai chapter is on February 14 and 15 at Chennai Trade Centre. Passes are available on comicconindia.com.