Korean wave surges over Chennai gaining 2,000 fans

A small group called Dorama Club was started in 2008, where likeminded fans of Asian culture, i.e. Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean, came together. 

What started off with around eight to ten members, grew steadily to 15 over the next year. It was in 2011, when Hallyu, a neologism literally translating to ‘flow of Korea’ began that the club saw a spurt in growth. 

A wave of Korean drama and music swept over the world so there was a boost in numbers of the club from 40 to 150, within a few months. In 2013, when Psy released his music video Gangnam Style, a larger population discovered K-Pop. 

Until then, those who knew of it were people like Sanjay Ramjhi, who accidentally stumbled upon the Korean entertainment industry while watching Japanese anime. But since 2013, the club has grown to 2,000 members in Chennai alone and it’s increasing at a rapid pace.

“It’s rare to come across Indians who are hooked to a new language or form of entertainment despite being unable to speak or understand Korean,” says Sanjay, who founded Dorama Club. 

The group began getting support from the Korean government over time and that’s when Dorama’s name was changed to The K-Wave, because 90 per cent are Korean enthusiasts. He informs, “InKo Center provides us a venue for free to organise events and club meet-ups, they provide Korean food free of cost and supply music CDs and posters too.” 

There are several K-Wave groups in the world, so Sanjay felt it’ll be nice to have one in India. He adds, “We also have been recognised and are sponsored by the Korean government so we take care of all the cultural activities in Chennai like movie-screening, food festivals, etc.” On June 29 and 30 there are various music and dance performances and competitions happening in the city. 

Upcoming bands Royal KD and Chloris will be coming in along with Jung Jaewook, who is popular among the Korean community for scoring original soundtracks for a lot of shows and serials. While this is to be organised by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Chennai, Korea Foundation and Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, South India, the set of competitions known as Changwon K-Pop World Festival, will be taken care of by the Chennai Chapter run by The K-Wave India. 

“There are eight regions in India and each one will have to submit videos of song and dance. There are 30 entries from Chennai this time. During the competition, the top ten singers and five dancers will be chosen by the judges. 

Whoever wins, will have to go to Delhi for an all-India finals and the persons who get selected there, get to go to Korea to take part in the World Festival. We’re also having a quiz on various topics after the competition,” he wraps up.