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The K-pop Hallyu wave has finally managed to break all language barriers and achieve a stronghold in India. The K-pop scene has always had a dominant set of Indian fans, which can be seen from the huge participation in the K-POP India Contest that has been taking place since 2012. Fans regularly host fan events to celebrate the birthdays and anniversaries of their favorite idols. However, Indian fans have always been a minority with their voices mostly going unheard.
BTS’ popularity has managed to bridge the language gap and has brought in an influx of new fans from all around the world, an overwhelming majority of which belongs to India. The streaming and buying numbers from India for various K-pop acts started increasing since 2017, which has made a huge mark on the algorithms evaluated by K-pop agencies to measure demand. The mark was big enough to warrant exclusive movie premieres and open acknowledgement from K-pop idols of their Indian fans.
4 instances of K-pop idols acknowledging the Hallyu wave in India
1) Yongseung
ON a V LIVE broadcast, Yongseung of VERIVERY read and replied to a comment from an Indian fan asking him if he knew of the existence of India. The member very sweetly replied to the fan, assuring that he definitely knew where India was and even bragged of his geographical knowledge by correctly stating that New Delhi was India’s capital. VERRERS in India were ecstatic and delighted to learn that their favorite idol did in fact know of their existence and became hopeful of the possibility of a concert in their homeland.
2) BTS
When Spotify launched in India, BTS did a promotional video for the app. They started off the video by greeting the Indian fans with ‘Namaste India’. RM mentioned that this phrase trended in India due to the release of Spotify.
During the promotions for their album Proof, RM mentioned that Mumbai was one of the locations they planned on going to for their now canceled Map of the Soul Tour. They’ve done multiple interviews with Indian news platforms such as E NOW and Rolling Stones India.
In an interview with Rolling Stones India, they congratulated Indian fans and thanked them for the huge success their song Dynamite saw in India. They even went on to mention Indian ARMYs' goodwill and charity efforts during the floods that plagued the country. It was heartwarming for Indian fans to know that BTS knows of them and their efforts beyond just listening to the group’s music.
3) IN2IT
Indian IN2Us are the luckiest fans as they had the golden opportunity to see an IN2IT concert live in India. The group held their first concerts in India in Mumbai and Delhi in 2019. Fans were ecstatic to see their idols on stage and it was a grand two-day affair. The group even performed Bollywood songs like Bole Chudiyan, which won everybody’s hearts.
Previously, to see their favorite idols live on stage, most Indian fans had to save-up and travel to other countries. With a few groups like IN2IT coming to India, there is hope for India to probably become a must-visit venue for all K-pop acts.
4) GOT7
GOT7 has on numerous occasions mentioned their love for India. On a V LIVE broadcast, a fan asked them to acknowledge Indian fans and the group did. Jackson waved and greeted the Indian Aghases and the group mentioned wanting to visit India.
Mark has also mentioned on a separate occasion that he wants to visit India no matter what. He mentioned that even if an official visit was to not materialize, he would definitely go on a vacation to India in the future.
India is slowly growing to be a K-pop-loving nation and this fact has not gone unnoticed by the Korean music industry. More and more idols have expressed an interest in coming to India to meet their fans, and groups like K.A.R.D and MONT were lucky enough to do just that. With the rules around concerts becoming more relaxed, one can now hope that India becomes a top-spot for K-pop idols to hold their concerts.
