Korean pop music finds growing following in Chennai

Way back in 2008, while randomly channel surfing on the television, Chennai resident Sreemeera Sampath stumbled upon Music Bank, a programme on KBS World. Listening to the popular K-Pop tracks on the show, this youngster recalled falling in love with this particular brand of music. “I discovered Shinee, a popular South-Korean band, and their dance moves were fantastic. I started exploring other K-Pop songs by bands like Big Bang, SS501 and many others. I have a lot of friends who are hooked to K-Pop and we have regular meetings, where were discuss about our favourite artists, have a fun quiz or just do some karaoke,” said Sreemeera, who is pursuing her M. Phil in English Literature from Madras Christian College (MCC). 

Sanjay Ramjhi, a 33-year-old Korean language interpreter, pointed out K-Pop’s popularity in Chennai grew exponentially over the last five years. Sanjay, who runs ‘The Dorama Club’, a Facebook page on K-Drama, said, “ Gangnam Style definitely got a lot more people hooked to K-Pop. There are private fan club meetings in the city for bands like Shinee, Super Junior and Ex/o.” 

This year, K-Pop fans in the city have an additional reason to be excited! The final round of the national K-Pop Contest will be held in Chennai and the guest judges are Eddy and Simba from the band JJCC, formed by Jackie Chan. Sanjay added, “Fans here are excited to get a glimpse of their favourite band.” 

Diehard fans are also trying to master the nuances of dance and music from skilled instructors from The Sejong University, Korea, at K-Pop Academy conducted by the InKo Centre. Jiwon Jung, one of the instructors, said he was quite touched to see the dedication towards K-pop. “One day, a student who was new to dance (of any genre) asked me a lot of questions and took effort to get the moves right after the class. I could see how much they love K-Pop music and dance. It was awesome because she choreographed the moves perfectly the following day,” he said.

Jung felt that the close connection between Indian and Korean cultures may account for K-pop’s rising popularity here. “I think that there will be K-Pop market soon in India and it will grow really fast,” he said. 

The K-Pop Contest, organised by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea, has been witnessing a steady rise in the number of participants every year. Korean Consul Joongsuk Park said, “Earlier the finals took place in Delhi but we have received many requests from South Indian K-Pop fans for the event to be held in the South. Also, the aim of this festival is to spread K-Pop across India. Hence, holding the national finals in Chennai would create more awareness as well as increased participation from southern states.”