In pictures: Kolkata’s cosplaying community brought their best looks to Hote Pattam

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Adults and kids alike participated in the competition, all in their costumed avatars. This little Superman won hearts right at the beginning of the show Superman, and right after him were two more young participants — Lois Lane and Wednesday Addams

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The cosplayers took centre stage, each with their own power poses, fight segments, and dance moves. One of the highlights of the performance segment was when a Japanese anime pop star was joined by a Star Wars ensemble for an impromptu dance performance

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Out of 25-odd participants in the cosplay competition, Soumi Das bagged the winning spot, dressed as Raze from the game Valorant.’“I was always into arts and crafts and Otaku culture, so I found the perfect hobby as a cosplayer. I admire the fictional characters I used to watch as a kid, and dressing up and becoming those characters makes me feel alive. In 2020, I started cosplaying and making my own costume and props. It is only recently I discovered that I can make a career out of it. I have won various competitions in the past few years and right now my dream is to represent India in the World Cosplay Summit,’ she said

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The first runner-up was Subhankar Chakraborty who cosplayed Commander Cody from the Star Wars universe

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The second runner-up was Mayukh Kundu who came as Denji, the titular character from the manga series Chainsaw Man, complete with a functioning helmet that breathed smoke. ‘I first cosplayed in 2018 as a makeshift cosplayer of the character Ghost from Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2 for Halloween. My first actual public cosplay was in August 2022, where I cosplayed the same character but added details to it. Slowly I started to get into the whole thing and got better at making props,’ he said

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(L-R) Subasish Das, Aparupa Nath, Harsho Mohan Chattoraj and Pinaki Dey graced the judges’ desk at the event. ‘We started cosplaying in Kolkata in 2016 or 17. There was a break during Covid, but before that it was mainly video game cosplay. Now we see anime and comic book characters as well. The number of cosplayers has increased and in some events we have seen over 80 cosplayers,’ said Subasish

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Once the judging part of the evening was done, Aparupa Nath also graced the stage with a performance of her own as Rafaela Angelic Sonata from the game Mobile Legends

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Richa Agarwal, chairperson of the Kolkata Centre for Creativity, dropped in for the prize distribution, and, much to the delight of the attendees, mentioned that similar events could be expected in the future. ‘We held a cosplay competition at KCC as part of the Comics in Bengal exhibition for the first time, and we are grateful to our partners for their support. It has been an enormous hit because so many individuals have signed up and are passionate about it. I surely believe we can keep planning more occasions like this,’ she said

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CEO of Kolkata-based bookstore Starmark, Gautam Jatia was cheering on the cosplayers throughout the event