It would be difficult not to notice the recent Korean influence that has suddenly appeared on social media. Not only the hugely popular Squid Game, but just about everything Korean is becoming popular, including Korean pop stars and the latest weepy Korean drama that everyone is raving about which has actually introduced Indians to the way of life in Korea. It is possible to have immediate access to anything remotely Korean, in just about the same way that it’s possible to get immediate access to a Jackpot Capital casino download!
It was Bong Joon Ho, director of Parasite who said during his 0scar winning speech “Once you overcome the one-inch barrier of subtitles, you will be introduced to so many more amazing films.” Well, it seems to have happened, and with very little promotional work. Despite the language barrier, the Koreans have somehow managed to get their content out there and noticed all across the planet, in spite of the language barrier. Korean culture has become part of the world pop culture.
The Korean wave
Korea has come a long way since it lifted its ban on foreign leisure travel in 1989 that was put in place because of fears about foreign currency depletion and when foreign debt was rising. It started with just a few films and some dramas, like ‘Old Boy’, Autumn in My Heart and ‘Winter Sonata, to name just a few. Now that situation has literally snowballed into the Korean wave, or Hallyu, which is forging its way around the globe and steamrolling the competition.
In American, Levi jeans and the Apple phone had a huge influence on pop culture and in the same way we are seeing South Korea having a huge influence on world pop culture. This is likely to be something that will continue especially with entertainment content and the growth and popularity of OTT, which was also aided by the pandemic and lack of new content.
Can India replicate the Korean success?
India is also spinning from the impressive content that the Koreans have put out. Is it possible for the Indian entertainment industry to replicate the success of the Korean entertainment model? Today the Indian Prime Minister is offering subsidies to filmmakers, that they should make in India but could it really be that there will come a time when Indian content is appreciated and dominates world pop culture? What would it take?
Relatability
The global appeal of Korean content seems to be that it is relatable. For example, ‘Crash Landing on You’, the Korean drama. While the plot is connected to the struggle between North and South Korea, which is something most of us know very little about, the love story is fresh and is relatable to anyone living in Sweden as it is top someone in Korea. The filmmaker, Sanjay Gupta who has done remakes of Korean films like ‘Zinda’ and ‘Old Boy’ says “They are staying true to emotions, which is a universal language.”
The popularity of Korean content in India according to Filmmaker Anand Pandit has to do with how it sits with Indian sensibilities. According to Pandit when speaking to ETimes, “The Korean psyche is quite linear with ours. It is cleaner, has family values, emotions, and a little bit of everything. It is almost packaged like an India film. They also have better technology and better writing (dialogues) and even the screenplays are good, so I personally like it.”
Even though Korean content is relatable it is by no means perfectly tailored for the world audience. The content still focusses on things which concern Koreans specifically, like Korean festivals and, of course it is in their language. However, it is the storytelling which is drawing in the foreign audience. The madly popular ‘Squid Game” focusses on the class division that exists in the country and the games in the show represent Korean culture, it has nevertheless captivated audiences around the globe. According to filmmaker, Mahesh Bhatt ‘The reason for Korean content getting such adulation is because Korean cinema has dared to remain true to its roots instead of trying to imitate Hollywood cinema, which is the tendency in some of our filmmakers here. You can see their efforts to climb onto the Oscar platform and gain acceptance on the basis of the terms laid down by the Americans.”
So, what is the problem?
Sanjay Gupta agrees with Bhatt, but goes further saying “Eighty percent of the content produced in India is dictated by studios or OTT platforms. They are primarily looking for a pan-India success instead of stories that will find universal acceptance globally. Their focus is not on the world stage right now.” Kubbra Sait, who is the actress in the international show, ‘Foundation’ also says that the reason that Korean content is successful is because of “the urge to entertain without defining the reason to do so. We are consumed by grabbing eyeballs and seats in the cinema halls. We are driven by hero-centric films. For eons now we’ve insisted and preached content is king, but we’ve treated it like the court jester. In recent ties, smaller budget films, regional films, and stories that matter have always found their way to the heart of audiences. We are growing mentally and emotionally, hence we need content that caters to our sensibilities and our fabric too.”
Reaching that potential
So, is it possible for the Indian entertainment industry to succeed as the Korean industry has? According to Chhitra Subramaniam, Senior Vice President Creative and Production, Reliance Entertainment Studio “There is huge potential in Indian stories and content. Going by how K-dramas and Korean content has exploded in popularity across the globe, Indian stories and content have huge potential as well to cut across a global audience. The key is to write and tell the stories in a way that appeals to a globus audience without losing our authenticity”.
Government support is needed
The importance of government subsidies should not be overlooked but in order that entertainment content is really global those creating content need to be free to explore. Kubbra says “I hope, pray and wish that our content doesn’t further get subjected to political agendas and righteous behavior. We need to eliminate the sacredness and our compelling nature to be offended by everything and everyone. Cinema is a form of art and storytelling…you can’t tailor-make it to suite everyone’s narrative. Let’s drive our honesty and truth.”
The show, “Squid Game” was made for around 21 million dollars, has become the most watched show globally and has generated 900 million dollars. In the next few years, Netflix will invest around 1 billion US dollars in Korean content. Bhatt says “If Indian content doesn’t measure up to the content generated by Korean, Turkish, Iranian, Israeli entertainment industries, then it will be thrown in the dustbin because now the whole game has become global. You have to make content that resonates globally. We are so inward- looking, we haven’t looked beyond our frontiers. This is a major phase of transition. The government of the day and the subsequent governments should realize that unless you take away the though-police on content creators, you’ll not be able to come to par with filmmakers of these nations. Neither will you have the thought audacity not the technical expertise required to make such content.”
It is the opinion of Subramaniam that in order for India succeed, it should copy the Korean model. She argues that “The Korean Government took concerted efforts over two decades ago, to export Korean popular culture and post that, their government along with the chaebol (large Korean conglomerates) pumped in money and resources to create a conducive atmosphere for young storytellers to tell those stories. First, they banned censorship laws which provided immense opportunities and freedom to young talent to express newer ideas in newer ways. The government and chaebols funded the skilling of writers, talent and encouraged the eco-system to develop. They spent on operational excellence and fostered controversial never-seen-before topics. For India to grow more, The Korean learnings and impact are there for us to replicate easily.”
