By
Sharada Iyer
When I wrote my blog titled ‘Bollywood’s Drag-Queen Acts’ last year (https://myviewsonbollywood.wordpress.com/2016/02/25/bollywoods-drag-queen-acts/),which dealt with a few instances of Bollywood actors dressed up in female attire in our films, there were a few requests from friends to do a post on the ‘Drag-King’ acts wherein our actresses decided to dress up as ‘males’ on screen! So here goes…
Though the variety of scripts demanding the actresses to don the guise of a man was far lesser than in the case of actors dressing up as a woman, I managed to find 18 films (from 1954-2014) where our heroines took on this challenge! While some of the actresses had quite a few scenes in the male guise, others got to masquerade in the get-up only for one scene. The reasons for donning the male get-up varied from as simple a thing as playing a prank to…
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ashokbhatia 
This was such an enjoyable and nostalgic read! I’ve always been fascinated by how Bollywood actresses experiment with gender roles on screen — from playful disguises to full-on performances that challenge traditional norms. It’s interesting to revisit these films through a cultural lens rather than just entertainment.
I often explore similar themes while writing a Hindi Film Review , and I must say your post adds great perspective to how costume and characterization have evolved over the decades.
Looking forward to more such deep dives into lesser-discussed corners of Indian cinema!
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Good to know about you. Thank you for your generous comment. I normally do not do reviews. I am more fond of looking for the nuances hidden across several movies. Or, the details of movie making. Here is the
latest: https://ashokbhatia.me/2025/10/06/sixty-years-on-the-hills-are-still-alive-with-the-sound-of-music/
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