Men in skirts: Brazen drag acts emerge as an easy shot at humour
Men in drag may not be a pleasant sight for everyone but it is fast emerging as an easy shot at humour on the big screen as well as on television.
The audience cracked up when Bollywood's very own nawab Saif Ali Khan, in skimpy lingerie and red lipstick, danced to Sheila ki Jawani with Deepika Padukone and Diana Penty, shooting the funny little jig on an ipod in Cocktail. Taking a cue from the popularity of his brazen drag avatar in Cocktail, Saif has decided to slip into a skirt again, for an all-new drag avatar in his new film Humshakals. Riteish Deshmukh known to have memorably pulled off a drag character in Apna Sapna Money Money is once again seen in a mini-skirt in the same film.
Talking about getting into character, Riteish's preparation began with borrowing wife Genelia D'Souza's skirt to look sexy on screen besides waxing his legs and applying make-up. Popular TV actor Ram Kapoor too did not shy away from doing the drag drill, despite his large frame.
Men in drag may not be a pleasant sight for everyone but it is fast emerging as an easy shot at humour on the big screen as well as on television. One of the small screen's biggest comic successes in recent times has been Sunil Grover's erstwhile avatar as Gutthi in Comedy Nights With Kapil before Sunil mindlessly chose to quit the show.
Humshakals director Sajid Khan admits the drag theory is the the safest route to creating humour, a sureshot formula to woo the masses. "It is a challenge for any actor to look convincing and have fun while dressed as a woman. We shot the drag portions in Mauritius and when we saw the crew members and audience cracking up watching Saif and Riteish as drag, we realised it would work," said Sajid.
For long Bollywood filmmakers thought that only by making the leading men obnoxiously dressed as women could they tickle the funny bone of the audience.
Brazen drag acts emerge as an easy shot at humour. Mehmood fans would look forward to see him dressed as a drag and giving animated expressions in films such as Bhoot Bangla and Johar Mehmood in Hong Kong. Shashi Kapoor in Shankar Dada, Shammi Kapoor in Bluffmaster and Kishore Kumar in Half Ticket did not shy away from cross dressing. Aamir Khan made a pretty bar dancer in Baazi. Amitabh Bachchan's Mere Angane Mein in Laawaris created mass hysteria. Even the very arty Naseeruddin Shah slipped into a swimsuit to appear as a woman in Tehelka.
"For an actor, dressing up as a woman should just be like slipping into any other character.
It is simply a form of expression to show your range as an actor," said Ali Asgar, who has made the character of the boozing wayward Dolly Dadi a hit on Kapil's show.
A while ago western viewers protested over two men dressing as women to get a job on ABC's TV show Work It. The idea irked the LGBT community.
Indian TV however is currently riding the cross-dressing wave.
The concept of drag has reached its next level mainly through the small screen in India, with comedy actors presenting gigs on various comedy shows dressed as women. The popularity of Sunil Grover's Gutthi became apparent when he quit Comedy Nights With Kapil to appear on a different show, Mad In India, again as a drag named Chutki. Character actor Kiku Sharda's drag avatar Palak has been so popular that he is appearing in that avatar instead of his real self in the ongoing dance reality show, Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.