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mid-day 43rd anniversary special: India says hello to Hallyu
Updated On: 29 July, 2022 03:19 PM IST | Mumbai | Letty Mariam Abraham
The Korean wave takes over India with OTT platforms cashing in on viewership surge, rise of fan clubs, and even stars bingeing on K-dramas
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What would compel an entertainment journalist with over 23 years of experience switch interests from covering Bollywood to South Korean dramas? In 2016, Puja Talwar, executive editor, Good Times, “crash landed” on K-dramas when she was laid up in bed with a broken foot. “I was hooked,” says Talwar, who was so consumed by the K-world that she decided to go beyond Annyeonghaseyo (Hello) and Sarang-hamnida (I love you), and pick up the language. Set to give her next exam in the language, she says, “It’s not easy to learn this language. In class, I was a 50-year-old among a sea of 20-year-olds who were learning the language to understand the Korean lyrics of their beloved K-Pop stars and curious minds who wanted to understand the nitty-gritty of their favourite dramas. It was no longer about learning a new language for better prospects.” Talwar is no stranger to Hallyu aka the Korean wave. In 2016, there were only a handful of people interested in K-dramas. It was popular in the northeast and Bangladesh. I remember requesting Netflix to get me in touch with Korean stars for interviews and to add K-dramas to their database, but they were still contemplating about the viewership numbers in India,” she recounts. That was then. Cut to 2022, and Hallyu has taken India by storm.
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