The world of comics came alive at Hote Pattam, a comic convention and cosplay contest organised by Kolkata Centre for Creativity in association with Starmark. The Anandapur venue saw talented participants pool in and showcase their artistic brilliance with handmade costumes and scientifically experimented with props. Hote Pattam, a part of the ‘Comics in Bengal’ exhibition at KCC, was a unique cosplay convention, which featured a variety of characters acting out their part while excerpts and music from a movie, song, series or a game played in the background. All this while the judges used specific parameters to select the three winners. Snapshots:
“For the very first time a cosplay competition was organised at KCC as part of the ‘Comics in Bengal’ exhibition and I am thankful to our collaborators for their support. It has been a roaring success, so many participants came forward and showed so much enthusiasm. I hope that we can continue organising more such events,” said Richa Agarwal, the chairperson of Kolkata Centre for Creativity.
“It was an amazing event and the location was a good one as well. We had a good time there. And on coming third, well I was really excited to earn a spot in the top three. I played Chainsaw Man or Denji from Chainsaw Man (an anime and manga),” said Mayukh Kundu, who was the second runner-up at Hote Pattam.
(R-L) Pinaki De (one of the members of Comics Culture Collective), Subhabish Das, Apurupa Nath and Harsho Mohan Chattaraj were the judges at the event. “Cosplay is slowly coming of age in Calcutta as there is huge interest around these events. However, the characters that they play are mostly from manga and video game, it is time that they show some enthusiasm around iconic Indian comics characters as well,” said Pinaki.