It was August last year. The entrance to the FICCI auditorium in the Capital was packed and humming in anticipation. Bright posters screamed about the event. Uniformed volunteers handed out flyers and ‘I love K-pop’ T-shirts. I managed to grab one of the last ones. Strangely, people had arrived early for the second K-pop Dance Festival to grab good seats. I scrambled for an empty one. Noticing my feeble attempts, someone offered me a seat, but not before asking, “Who’s your K-pop bias?” When I said SHINee, she nodded in approval. I had passed my initiation.

My obsession with K-pop was fairly recent, a couple of months at best, but it was intense. The music was nothing like Linkin Park, hardly anything to headbang to, but it was upbeat and infectious. SHINee, in particular, is a group known for its contemporary music style, dazzling visuals and complex dance moves. Hours before the festival began, I’d fortuitously seen an ad about it. And here I was.

The lights dimmed in an auditorium filled with raucous K-pop fans. Participants took to the stage confidently, cheered on by the audience. All of them were Indian, but they were well versed in small Korean phrases. They sang and danced to popular K-pop numbers. Over the next few hours, energy levels rose and fell like a sine curve: shooting up for the dances and falling silent for the songs. Crazy Freaks Dance Crew won in the dance category for their performance of 2PM’s Again and Again . Edwin Kubzar won for his soulful rendition of Ailee’s Heaven — nearly four minutes that had stilled the hall. Small groups, squealing in excitement, hung back after the event to meet with the participants. They discovered common interests and strangers made dinner dates. I found myself getting pulled into this beautiful world of K-pop. And just like that, one afternoon this May, I found myself at Dunkin Donuts, discussing Super Junior — a K-pop superstar — and playing games such as Identify the Idol! with a roomful of strangers united in our love for K-pop. Were there really so many fans of Korean music in Delhi, I wondered.

Riding the Korean wave

K-pop is a pop genre from South Korea that is characterised by its audio-visual elements and hip fashions. The genre combines dance-pop, pop ballads, electronic, rock, hip-hop and R&B styles. The musical movement began in the ’90s, and has since turned into a ‘Korean Wave’, playing across the world. Bands such as Super Junior, Big Bang, 2NE1 and Girl’s Generation have become internet sensations and household names. Girl’s Generation even beat popular acts of Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber and even Korean sensation Psy to win the inaugural YouTube Music Awards in 2013 for its music video I Got a Boy.

For this year’s festival, which concludes at the end of the month, the Korean Cultural Centre is bringing N-sonic to perform. A rising K-pop group, they recently released a music video, Pop Beyond , which has done very well in Korea. The band’s fans, who go by the name Supersonic, are thrilled with the news.

When Kim Kum Pyoung, the director of the Korean Cultural Centre, arrived in India in 2011, he didn’t expect to see so many K-pop fans. “India is one of the last countries to be touched by K-pop and Korean dramas,” he confesses. Youngsters, he says, identify with it because of its eye-popping videos and cheeky fashion. He also adds that the genre has a distinct Asian flavour, which is not visible in Western pop. “And of course, handsome boys,” he says, with a laugh.

This year’s K-pop Dance Festival is expected to be a bigger-than-ever affair. The auditions spanned across Chennai, Dimapur, Mumbai and Delhi. At the Delhi auditions, which took place on August 2, I was surprised to see a packed house, even though these were only the prelims. The talent this year was also better than last year’s. And more surprisingly, the festival is attracting a growing male fan base for a genre that is usually perceived to appeal more to women. The number of applicants had risen this year; bands had auditioned by uploading their videos on the festival’s website. When a group called the Undefeated Crew won the Delhi prelims, they were delighted. Their families were not too enthusiastic about their participation, but the crew hoped the win would change that. Who was their favourite group? They chorused EXO. “EXO is a star band. They are really amazing. They’re the best crew in the world,” a group member said. It was befitting then that their video was inspired by EXO’s video.

Nineteen-year-old Edwin Kubzar, who won last year’s prize in the song category, had stumbled upon the festival through a friend on Facebook. Hailing from Dimapur, Nagaland, his decision to participate was sudden: “I didn’t think of anything. I just went ahead and did it.” He doesn’t speak Korean, but he practised till he got the lyrics right. At this year’s festival, Kubzar will be a veteran. And a popular one. “People recognise me,” he says. Did he think he’d find so many fans? “Not really. But people are slowly coming to know about it (K-pop).” He might continue to be the reigning K-pop idol in India, but Kubzar is at work cutting a new single.

Sitting in my new N Sonic T-shirt at the prelims, I can hardly wait for the finals on August 30. And this time, I will be early to grab myself a front-row seat.

( Amina Razzack is a K-pop enthusiast and was an intern at BLink )

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