How acing art in school garnered Latur man cosplay conquests

At last weekend’s GamingCon in Mumbai, Shaikh cosplayed as Million Demon from the game ‘Nioh 2’, which won him the first prize – ₹35,000 in cash

MUMBAI: In a quiet corner of Latur city, Sameer Shaikh, 33, lives a perceptibly ordinary life. His days – 9 am to 9 pm -- are filled out running his family-owned shop that manufactures spare parts for heavy vehicles. His nights however come alive with run-throughs of cosplaying, when he dresses up as specific characters for upcoming Comic Con events.

How acing art in school garnered Latur man cosplay conquests

Shaikh attended his first Comic Con in Mumbai in 2018, cosplaying as Reaper from the online game ‘Overwatch’, and bagged the prize in the gaming category. “It was a big push for me. The fact that I come from such a small town and won at my very first try was encouraging. I thought I should continue doing this,” he says. In the six years since, he has attended about 20 events, and won a prize at each, in various categories.

At last weekend’s GamingCon in Mumbai, Shaikh cosplayed as Million Demon from the game ‘Nioh 2’, which won him the first prize – ₹35,000 in cash.

Shaikh’s journey in cosplay unwittingly began in his childhood. With a natural flair for drawing and painting, and often winning awards in school for acing it, he was hooked to the subject. Craft shows on television enhanced his interest further, and soon, he found himself creating costumes of famous characters -- Krrish, Shaktimaan, Batman, Superman – and would dress up as them. After watching ‘Krrish’ he fashioned his mother’s burqa into the costume; it was tightened form the left side, with broad shoulders and tapered down. “I didn’t even know it at that time but I was already using techniques that are required to build cosplay costumes,” he says. In 2016, he started searching the internet to locate events where his craft could be displayed, and came upon cosplaying.

Thereafter, there was no stopping him, with even his wife, who couldn’t quite fathom what the fuss was all about, supporting him. She sat with him through the late nights, helping him with measurements and making endless cups of coffee when he was overworked. “She has filled in for the things I couldn’t do. She definitely deserves credit for that,” he says.

To get into a character for cosplay is more than creating and donning the costume of a character. In order to embody the them completely, he learnt the art of make-up, hair and fashion. He turned to YouTube videos to understand characters, body language and how he should modulate his voice. “I look at videos and try to understand the character’s aura. I also look at how people are responding to the character,” he explains.

Early on, this passion was greeted with confusion and doubt by his family. While they had accepted his unique interest as a child, they could not understand what Shaikh was “achieving by spending the nights making the costumes”. But things were about to change soon.

In 2019, Shaikh attended PGAX (Phoenix Gaming and Anime Expo) in Chennai, cosplaying as Scorpion from ‘Mortal Kombat’. He bagged the first prize of ₹1 lakh in the gaming category. “When I returned from Chennai, my father hugged me and declared that I would be kept away from running the family business – he wanted me to focus all my energy on cosplaying,” he recalls. Since then, his father hasn’t criticised him about his cosplaying, but Shaikh continues going to the shop.

Around 2018, when work pressure impacted Shaikh’s health, he considered ending his gig. But, he says, whenever he dwells on quitting, he remembers the encouraging words of a favourite aunt, who passed away during Covid. “She was very supportive of my passion and also offered financial assistance if the need arose. She never wanted me to give up my passion. I am honouring her wish now,” he says.

He went on to play Ironman, from ‘Endgame’, Zinger from ‘Monster Hunter’, Eivor from ‘Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla’, Black Adam from the movie of the same name, and many more.

Today, all of Shaikh’s cosplay expenses are covered by the cash prize wins. Thus far, he has earned an estimated ₹3.5 lakh from various cosplay events, and also gets hired regularly by gaming companies to play their characters at their events, which gets him extra cash.