#indianfans

Disha Patani has caused a stir online for her latest choice in clothing! Wearing a sultry saree, her voluminous cle*vage was on full display accompanied by a toned mid-riff. Whilst many have praised the actress for her latest look, a large portion of Indian fans have taken to social media to criticize her choice as they suggest she “learn from others like Gigi Hadid and Zendaya.” Will Patani…

So it's no secret that South Korean idol/singers or more specifically Kyu-line visited India to film for the variety show "Fluttering India" or "Dugeun Dugeun Indo" as it is called in Korean. What started with the announcement of the probability of a show has left a bitterly amusing trail of events that leaves a lot to be desired in many aspects.

Before I begin, I would like to clearly state that these are my thoughts as an Indian kpop fan who has been listening to kpop for a while now. It does not reflect the broad range of opinions of Indian fans in general, that we have seen or heard about in the past week and more, but is an expression of what I thought and felt of the entire issue. That being cleared up, let's begin. Buckle up with some popcorn because I have a lot to say.

It starts with once upon a time in the month of January 2015 when one of my close Kpopper friends forwarded a link of an Soompi article. I must confess that I have been out of touch with recent developments in the industry because a) college was too hectic and b) the year of the Kpocalypse did throw me off balance. The Soompi article (http://www.soompi.com/2015/01/20/kbs2-prepares-for-a-new-show-starring-idols-in-india/) talked about Lee Ye Ji researching and developing a new variety show based in India. It was strange, honestly. Though a large potential market, India had largely been ignored in the Kpop scene. When brought up, it was mostly parodied on variety shows. Various instances of misrepresentation aside, this was a largely positive development. This was a wonderful chance to put the subcontinent on the world map. I left my apprehensions aside and looked forward to it quite eagerly, having long discussions with my friends and wondering which idols would have a realistic chance of coming. (I am a marketing geek of sorts despite studying engineering and Kpop entertainment industry is a gold mine of interesting case studies.)

This wasn't the first time K-idols were coming to our country. Jaejoong had been here for a photo shoot a few years ago and very recently N'Sonic had a mini concert tour, performing in three colleges and ending it with a fan meet in Delhi, the national capital. So it wasn't the first time, but we didn't quite expect the huge leap to SM-Woollim-FNC idols (though I had ironically conjectured that SM should leap at the chance this time around). When it was announced that filming would begin in February itself, I was surprised because that was a very short period of research. Maybe the PD knew what she was doing and I didn't wish to judge just yet. I barely knew the concept of the show. Some rumors did say it could be identical to BoA's Road For Hope circa 2012 which had me fretting and fuming because India is more than just poor people in a sand land without dreams, no thank you very much. I am rather proud of our culture and heritage and that possibility had me writhing in silent passive aggressive rage. This SB article sums it rather well: http://seoulbeats.com/2015/01/road-hopelessness-unexciting-india/

Also, it was kind of disappointing to see the reactions of some of the Korean fans and International fans. This tumblr posts contained translations of some of the netizen's comments: http://ayoshiari.tumblr.com/post/109503189453/netizen-complain-against-kyuline-leaving-for-india

Oh btw, thanks for the heads up on the (nonexistent) Ebola situation. Thanks to those people who didn't even live here but judged us nonetheless I am alive and well and not Ebola infected because I am now aware. #yay. #much-wow #sarcasm #needthattagthemost #someidiotsjustdontgetit #istg #weneverhadabreakoutofebola

Nonetheless, all said and nothing done, the boys added Mumbai to their itinerary. Now if you've been a fan as long as I have, then you would know that no idol ever leaves or arrives at an airport without fans being present just to catch a glimpse of their idols. The Indian fans did not know of their plans and to ones who could go, this was most likely the only opportunity to see the idols in real life. India is very vast and fans are spread out far and wide. It's not easy to travel from one city to another. So although there are thousands of fans in India, only a handful could actually be present there.

Then came the PDs in all their nose-in-the-air glory, only to tell them that they weren't allowed to be there. Their placards were to be hidden and no footage in terms of videos or cams would be allowed. It's bad enough to live in a society that ridicules you for being different. If you choose to sing Sorry Sorry instead of belting out Kolaveri Di, there is clearly something wrong with you. Even though I have been a kpopper for years people around me still laugh at my music choices. Just last Saturday, I had to sit through a discussion where my peer group failed to understand why I liked music in another language. All I would say about that situation is that I am sorry for the narrow horizon that is their limited mind.

So given that background, how would you feel when you aren't allowed to express your admiration for the ones to who it is clearly aimed for? It's like liking a senpai despite your friends making fun of you for it and the senpai failing to notice you when you were right in front of him. It really isn't fair. From the fan accounts that I read, many of them had waited for 10+ hours only to receive rude treatment from the staff. They would have understood if we were politely asked not to take pictures or videos or create a scene. It's not like the limited number which had been there could have. I have clear issues with the treatment meted out to the fans there.

Once this got out, the entire thing turned sour. International as well as Korean fans agreed that this wasn't fair. Backed against a wall, the production staff released a statement saying they were worried the fans would make a scene leading to cancellation of shooting permit (which I know are hard to get in India). Then the production staff went ahead to say something about there being only 300 Kpoppers in India. Now that brought tears to my eyes because what absolute bullshit. The Facebook groups alone account for 12000+ members. See this is what happens when you do not research your market. That is the surest recipe for disaster. The marketing student in me died a gory death by the utter bull of a defensive stunt pulled here. I take a moment to mourn the loss of my IQ points.

All is well that ends well and this ended with the boys leaving on 6th February. A plus point of the week was the account of a fan who actually got to meet the boys. Can I say how jealous and happy I am for her? Wish I had been there! But I am glad they know that they have some fans in this country and that at least one person got to meet them.

The bitter icing on the cake though was the released preview which had me laughing so hard I fell down from my bed. While the idea of actually coming to India to understand how Kpop would fit into its music scene was brilliant it was messed up really efficiently when the entire concept was announced to be based on the existence of no fans whatsoever in this country.

This after fans protested and called out the production staff on being told not to act like fans

e_e

Do you see my point? Do you see why we are losing IQ points trying to understand this activity? There is no logic to this entire act. Also, when the entire market of mainstream Kpop is directed towards preteen and teenagers, do you really expect people in late twenties or thirties to know the music? When your own production houses do not export CDs to outlets in India, do you really expect to find Kpop music in stores here?

Such intelligence.

Much mind blown thanks to shooting myself with a gun.

A much better concept would be to actually show how limited the knowledge of Kpop was and to actually discuss ways to increase its influence. Would N'Sonic hold three mini concerts if no one here was interested in seeing them? Why would we have cover contests for music we didn't listen to? There are people here who would actually like Kpop if they were introduced to it. It's a billion strong market. The last time you entered an Asian country with a billion plus population, you only made profits from them! (I actually can plan a strategy on how I would go about introducing Kpop to India but this post is already long).

But whom am I kidding. This is what we have to work with and a highly embarrassing thing to watch on TV.