Is The Next Indian Idol a K-pop Star?

We're getting very up close and personal with the love for Korean pop music love in India, and its surrounding industry. Let super fans power your soundtrack, tell you how to talk and walk K-pop style, in the best that K-pop fashion has to offer. Read more here.

In early 1992, Seo Taiji and the Boys walked onto the stage at a Korean Television Network’s talent series and earned the lowest rating in the history of the show. They perform a song titled ‘Nan Arayo’ (I Know)–one of the first Korean songs to incorporate hip-hop music and the culture built around it, like B-Boying–in its structure. The performance, while failing to gather appreciation from the show’s producers and judges, creating the blueprint for what is widely recognised as the quintessential structure for modern K-Pop music.

Stella K Zodinpuii, born and raised in Aizawl, Mizoram, was one of the front-runners to win the India leg of this year’s Changwon K-pop World Festival (vocal category). She is the embodiment of the revolutionary entertainment format and culture that started with Seo Taiji and the Boys’ performance of ‘Nan Arayo’ and is now one of the fastest growing and successful cultural exports in the modern era. Over the past few years, the momentum gathered by Hallyu, or the Korean (cultural) wave, has led the Korean music industry, and K-pop music, to become a commercially successful juggernaut with a diverse and engaged audience around the world. Zodinpuii is a second-generation K-pop artist, having been taught and trained by her father who, along with her family, was one of the many fans of Korean dramas and music in Northeast India.

In 2010, BBC India’s Sanjay Majumder, in a short visual piece titled Close Up: A Little Corner of Korea in India, reported on the popularity of Korean culture in Manipur, a state in Northeast India that has been ravaged by violence between insurgents and the Indian state. The noughties saw the insurgent groups make an effort to limit mainland India’s cultural influence by banning Bollywood movies and music–creating a vacuum that was filled by Korean dramas and movies that were copied and circulated amongst friends and relatives.

“My father was an artist,” says Zodinpuii. “He used to train us to sing and dance. At first, he was a bit strict about us being exposed to K-pop, but then my mum used to be a huge fan as well so he kind of got swayed.” In 2008, she saw BoA, a K-pop artist often referred to as the Queen of K-pop, perform on television. “That was the performance that got me hooked,” she says. “After that, I threw myself into the culture and lifestyle.”

In 1997, the Asian financial crisis that ravaged the economies of South Korea, Thailand and Indonesia forced the government of South Korea to look at K-pop as a cultural export that also had potential as a major source of revenue. Thus, efforts were made to increase the marketability of K-Pop and spread its popularity via the Korean Cultural centres present in most major cities around the world. Since 2011, the Korean government has supported and operated K-pop academies across the world, helping eager fans learn the craft from K-pop professionals. “They (the teachers) are extremely technical,” says Zodinpuii. “I’ve been coming to the academy for three years, and every time, we start from the basics.”

Academies play a crucial role in the K-pop industry. Leading Korean entertainment companies such as SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and others, operate as a one-stop shop for all things K-pop. They find and groom young talent in their academies–creating K-pop idols and then bringing them together to form K-pop groups such as BTS, H.O.T and others. This year, the academy in Delhi received over a 100 applications –resulting in them holding auditions and selecting the best 60-odd students into the program. The academies act as an exploratory effort to expand K-Pop’s talent pool across the world, as confirmed by SM Entertainment’s recent venture into Vietnam.

The Changwon K-Pop World Festival acts as the flagship entity for this talent search. Founded in 2011, the contest attracts participants from over 90 countries and brings the best K-pop talent from around the world to Korea–pitting them against each other in front of industry professionals. The competition is gaining in popularity amongst India’s urban dance crews, most of whom used to compete in hip-hop tournaments in the country and around the world. “The competition is extremely tough,” says Ashish, the leader of Delhi’s We Are Family dance crew. “We’re essentially a hip-hop dance crew and got into this (K-pop) when another crew told us about it.”

The 11-member crew won the India leg of this year’s K-pop festival (dance category) and has been competing in the competition since 2015. “The focus in this competition is not on originality,” says Ashish. “You really need to understand the culture, which is something we’re starting to do. Everything–from the hairstyle and clothes to the choreography and singing–needs to match with what the K-pop idols do in their videos. Our preparation involves choosing the right video–usually, we choose one that has won an award recently–and then recreating it the best way we can.”

Recently, the Korean Cultural Centre held a graduation ceremony of sorts for this year’s K-pop academy participants. The enthusiasm on display, as well as the level of engagement with the culture, is a testament to how successful the Korean government has been in marketing its cultural product across borders. The finale of the Indian leg of the Changwon K-Pop World Festival was attended by the First Lady of Korea, emphasising the importance the administration places on such cultural exchanges. If the Indian K-pop market continues to grow at this rate, how long will it be before we see conglomerates such as SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and others turn their attention over to the subcontinent? If and when they do, at what point do we start discussing the other, darker side of the K-pop industry–the demands on its stars?

One thing’s for certain, the Hallyu wave isn’t just a passing trend amongst the Indian youth. It’s here to stay.