From Nandi to Naruto: How India’s cosplayers craft their grand costumes

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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Growing up, Saurabh Singh Rawat had one big dream: to become a cartoon. “I loved watching (anime) cartoons like Dragon Ball and Pokémon...

I wanted to become a cartoon like the ones in these shows," recalls Mumbai-based Rawat, 31. His seemingly implausible dream came true about a decade ago when he attended the 2014 Mumbai Comic Con. “That was the first time I saw cosplayers and realised that I could actually become my favourite cartoon by making my own costume," laughs Rawat, an art director and founder of craft studio, Metalbenders Studio.

In 2015, he attended the Mumbai Comic Con dressed up as Sasuke, a grey character from popular Japanese anime and manga series, Naruto. Today, Rawat is one of the most recognizable cosplayers in the country with awards in his kitty. At the Indian Championship of Cosplay (ICC) 2024, he was the overall winner for cosplaying as Illidan Stormrage, an antagonistic character from the World of Warcraft video game.

Then there’s Bengalurean Rohit Kailashiya, 34, who quit his medical studies over a decade ago just to pursue a full-time career in cosplaying, learning everything on his own. Introduced to cosplaying in 2012 at the Bangalore Comic Con, Kailashiya has no regrets about switching careers. “I won my first international prize in 2019 at the Dota 2 International Cosplay Contest in Shanghai, China where I dressed up as Treant Protector, a character from the Dota 2 game.

In 2022, I took part in the World Cosplay Summit (WCS) in Japan and won the award in the armour category," he says. A portmanteau of “costume play", cosplay is like a grand adult version of a fancy dress competition. And while awards, fan following, recognition and monetary perks (most