lost<\/a> once to a drag queen in a Dolly Parton lookalike contest. Dolly wrote the song \u2018Travelin\u2019 Thru\u2019 for the 2005 film Transamerica, a film about a transgender woman, and has consistently welcomed her LGBTQ+ following.\u00a0<\/p>\nLilith did not grow up as a devoted Dolly fan. She first encountered her because of Miley Cyrus and only later learned about their relationship and Dolly\u2019s larger cultural legacy. What stayed with her was less a particular song than Dolly\u2019s willingness to be completely herself.<\/p>\n
For Lilith, that means refusing the advice to blend in. People have told her not to stand out too much, to stay where she is comfortable. Her response is, \u201cWhy not? You only have one life. Let\u2019s just have fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her chosen name reflects that. The precise origins of the mythological figure of Lilith remain unclear. She is often suggested to have been a Mesopotamian goddess. In Christian doctrine she is considered Adam\u2019s first wife before Eve. Refusing to bow to men, Lilith is believed to have been cast out of heaven.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can relate to that. I like to stand out. A part of standing out is not bowing down to anybody. Through my career, I had lots of opportunities come up where I could\u2019ve become part of something bigger, but that would require me to give up my autonomy as an artist. I did not do that. That is why the name Lillith resonates with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the Dolly she wanted to bring to the stage \u2014 not a literal imitation, but the big hair, confidence and unapologetic personality associated with her.<\/p>\n
\u2018Two lives\u2019<\/p>\n
For Izzy B, however, the stakes of becoming a drag queen have been much more complicated. At 26, she has spent nearly three years performing as Izzy B and is now the eldest daughter of Miss Bhenji.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The drag mother-daughter relationship is a profound chosen family bond. It blends professional mentorship with emotional connections. A drag mother is often an experienced queen who takes an emerging artist under her wing.<\/p>\n
Izzy describes herself as a look queen and female impersonator. She has performed at Kooth nights, which are high-energy club events celebrating south Indian cinematic music and folk dance beats; Mujra-inspired shows, which are theatrical; expressive drag performances rooted in classical Mughal-era courtesan storytelling and poetry; and drag brunches celebrating Bollywood divas, who are channelled for their hyper-glamourous dramatic expressions and campy dance routines, like actors Madhuri Dixit and Rekha.<\/p>\n
Offstage, her life looks very different.<\/p>\n
She comes from a conservative Muslim family that does not know she is a drag artist. Her wigs, makeup and costumes are kept at her drag mother\u2019s house. She gets ready there, becomes Izzy B, performs, and later returns home and changes back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am managing two lives,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
That double existence is one of the hardest parts of drag for her. There is the freedom of the stage, where she can be completely visible, and the careful negotiation of home, where that identity remains hidden.<\/p>\n
\u201cBeing a drag performer in India is challenging. Being a drag performer and being Muslim is another challenge altogether.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dolly and family<\/p>\n
In 2024, her family discovered her practising dance at a gym in shorts. She was restricted from going out, became separated from friends and stepped away from drag for around eight months. She had to cancel a show she had been preparing for.<\/p>\n
For someone whose identity had become intertwined with performing, disappearing from the scene came with another fear: that people would forget her.<\/p>\n
During that period, Miss Bhenji kept checking on her. When Izzy eventually returned, Bhenji invited her to become her drag daughter. Miss Bhenji\u2019s house has now become a space where wigs, makeup, clothes and heels could be shared, but more importantly, where the queens did not have to explain themselves.<\/p>\n
That sense of chosen family is central to Izzy\u2019s understanding of drag.<\/p>\n
She discovered drag after watching RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race and attending her first drag show at Kitty Ko in 2022. A friend encouraged her to try it herself. Her first attempt in 2023 involved a basic wig and a store-bought outfit. But once the makeup went on, something shifted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe makeup changes your identity.\u201d<\/p>\n
She entered a drag talent hunt later that year and won. Her first proper show, Disco Dolls, followed in July 2023. She remembers the audience responding to her dancing and stage presence and the feeling of realising, perhaps for the first time, that this could actually become her life.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what I want to do.\u201d Today, she is a full-time drag performer.<\/p>\n
That life is expensive. A synthetic lace-front wig can cost around Rs 5000, and human hair wigs at Rs 10,000. There are outfits, heels, makeup, padding, stockings and alterations. There is always another character to build and another look to perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have to look polished. I have to look good. I have to bring a new persona every time.\u201d The money does not always match the labour.<\/p>\n
But the audience keeps her going. Being recognised as Izzy B gives her a rush \u2014 a reminder that the person she has created has travelled beyond the room in which she created her.<\/p>\n
For the Dolly tribute, she chose a white gown and performed \u2018Jolene\u2019, surrounded by two androgynous performers. To Izzy, Dolly is more than a country music legend. She is a queer icon, a \u201cgay mother\u201d, someone whose image and music have travelled through generations of LGBTQ+ culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cDolly is a drag queen.\u201d Izzy wants audiences, particularly queer audiences, to understand that history.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Drag gave those scattered interests somewhere to meet. \u201cI have always been into makeup. 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