Drama Queens, by Veejay Sai, is about women who created history in the theatre world between 1850-1950 when art traditions were being reinterpreted to usher in a new age, amidst a rigidly patriarchal Indian society where women regarded as lesser beings, in the entertainment world, were considered lowest of the low, confined to the edges of society. Staggering in the sheer range of material pertaining to interwoven threads of history, of politics, of social attitudes, of literature and performing arts like theatre, dance, music and film, the book indeed traverses many worlds - showing the interconnectedness in art streams. To unearth biographical details on unsung Bais, devadasis, kalavantulu, sanis and tawaifs, whose contributions so enriched our art world, is not easy. And one applauds this herculean research effort where source material comprised picking up shards of "a random passing gesture, a miniscule citation in a newspaper clipping", bits of material in defunct Urdu chronicles, old Tamil and Bengali journals, Marathi scripts, vernacular press clippings and not least, bits of information provided by the occasional surviving friend or relative - to make narratives out of.
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