Unveiling the drapes of drag: Queer as costume, spectacle and performance in Malayalam cinema

This article examines the role of queer costumes in the construction and (mis)representation of queer identity in Malayalam cinema, the South Indian film industry based in the state of Kerala. It centres on the regional context of Kerala’s film industry, where cinematic depictions of queerness have often relied on performative costumes and cross-dressing as tools to shape and constrain queer narratives. In Malayalam cinema, the use of cross-dressing frames queer characters as visual spectacles that perpetuate heteronormative gender norms and misconceptions. Films use queer costumes as comedic devices to distort idealized perceptions of masculinity and femininity. Through detailed costume analysis of select films, this article examines how costume choices and sartorial excess construct queer identity and function as visual signifiers for representing queerness in Malayalam cinema. This article explores how the visual rhetoric of queer costumes, especially in cross-dressed roles by Malayalam actors constructs a performative queerness that trivializes and marginalizes sexual autonomy and gender performance. The emphasis on exaggerated gendered clothing in these films illustrates how cross-dressing operates as a cinematic tool that reinforces and challenges societal norms surrounding gender and sexuality. By analysing these portrayals, the study reveals how costume defines queerness not only as deviance but also as something temporary, non-threatening and ultimately assimilable into heteronormative order. It also investigates how filmmakers and contemporary Malayalam cinema are deploying new sartorial vocabularies to challenge and expand perceptions of queer diversity.