Basking in the glory of his recent feat, at the Indian Championships of Cosplay’16– a Comic Con India initiative, for his cosplay as Dr Otto Octavius; Bengaluru boy Nabil Khan is all set to represent the country at the Annual Crown Championships of Cosplay at Chicago Comics & Entertainment Expo to be held on March 18. He chats to us about his ongoing journey…
Tracing the origin of his innate passion for cartoons, costume play and performing arts to the cartoon frenzy era of the 90’s, Nabil reminisces how entertainment in his early childhood meant Cartoon Network. “Quite like most kids of the 90’s, a major part of my childhood circled around obsessing about popular cartoon characters from various comics.” While the concept of Cosplay was yet to be discovered, this youngster always dreamt of becoming member of the SWATkats.
On asking him about how his family has taken to his unconventional profession, the 23-year-old mechanical engineering graduate from M.S Ramaiah Institute of Technology says, “My mom googles interesting characters from time to time, that I could take inspiration from. I’m glad that I have the backing of my parents,” he says.
Unfazed by the hullabaloo around his recent victory; Nabil maintains that the biggest takeaway was the sheer joy of witnessing their reactions. “When I see little kids overwhelmed and adults beaming with childlike joy, it brings a certain sense of happiness,” he adds.
Talking about how the Indian Championshionships of Cosplay was an experience in itself, Nabil opines that the country has a talented bunch who are brilliant at what they do. “Some of the pioneers of Cosplay are Vijay Sinha and Ankita kemkar and Tanya Shringapure who have set the ball rolling for other cosplayer to follow ,” he adds.
With intentions to moonlight as a Cosplay artiste, the talented youngster asserts on how he wishes to explore different avenues. “I’ve had an affinity for animation, and so decided to try cosplaying. I fell in love with it. I want to be an Imaginer,” he adds.
As the talented youngster is geared up for a bigger challenge, he reveals how he’s ready to bring it on. “I was not always the confident types even though I was on stage at school level for dramatics. Comiccon and Cosplay have made me more confident about myself and I staunchly believe that anything is possible with hard work and perseverance,” he adds.
