It’s not just the Gen Zs: Why city-based homemakers are ditching Hindi soaps for K-dramas

In 2019, Hiramma Nagesh, a 47-year-old city-based homemaker, watched her first K-drama ‘Playful Kiss' starring the South Korean actors, Kim Hyun-Joong and Jung So-Min, and was captivated by the intriguing storyline, the lively colourful aesthetics and overall charm of the Korean actors. By January 2022, she had watched over ten dramas.

"Korean dramas make me laugh and also bring me to tears at some moments. There's a perfect mix of emotions in their stories," she says, adding that she has binge watched ‘Boys Over Flowers' over five to ten times on YouTube and is a huge fan of the popular actor Lee Min-Ho, admired by thousands of Gen Z K-drama fans in India.

The Hallyu or the Korean wave, largely driven by K-pop and K-dramas, has not only taken over Indian teenagers and Gen Z, but also many middle-aged adults like Hiramma who are now routinely watching K-dramas, either as dubbed versions or with subtitles.

After the 2009 drama ‘Boys over Flowers', which initially exposed the Indian mainland audience to Korean entertainment, the release of ‘Crash Landing on You' during the 2020 Covid-19 lockdown brought about another breakthrough moment for the contemporary Korean wave in India. With restricted movement, lack of new television content and increased exposure to over-the-top (OTT) platforms, which aired several Korean dramas and movies, many homemakers in metropolitan cities turned towards Korean dramas in their free time.

From youngsters to elders in the family, Korean content emerged as an alternate choice of entertainment for many. According to the data provided by Korean Cultural Centre India, the viewership of K-dramas on Netflix in India increased by more than 370 percent in 2020 as compared to 2019.

In 2020, according to an ET report, Zee entertainment group's satellite service provider Dish TV launched a daily package for 1.3 rupees for people to access Korean dramas dubbed in India. While Netflix does not offer Hindi dubbed versions of all the K-dramas, streaming platform MX Player offers most of the old dramas dubbed in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

For Hiramma, watching the dubbed version provides the necessary time to understand the concept of the drama. "While I can read English, I am still struggling to catch up with the speed of the subtitles. So dubbed versions are better," she adds.

Mahua Bose, a 50-year-old homemaker who watches the dramas on Netflix, says she prefers watching them with English subtitles over the dubbed versions. "It was a struggle initially watching with subtitles. But, once you figure out a way and try to understand the language, the watching experience becomes better," she adds.

K-dramas over saas-bahu daily soaps

"I like how Korean dramas have a clear beginning, middle and end to their story. The stories that they choose to tell to people are relevant and relatable, unlike the ones we see on Indian television," says Bose, who was introduced to K-dramas by her daughter during the lockdown.

"'Reply 1988' reminded me of my childhood. The protagonist's struggles of being a mediocre middle child resonated with me. I relate to aspirations and stories of the women characters in series such as in 'Search WWW'; they are inspiring and that's a streak I see in my daughter too. The nuances of a marriage and bringing up a child as shown in the Sky Castle is something that I found relevant as well," she explains.

Mahua Bose has been watching K-dramas since two years now. Image courtesy: Mahua Bose

While she is also aware of a couple of BTS songs, she is more into K-dramas such as the 'Reply' series, 'Healer', 'Sky Caster', 'Dear My Friends', 'My Mister', 'Itaewon Class', among others.

Bose says she likes the way these series are rooted in the traditional values of Koreans. According to Bose, the presentation of the characters, the portrayal of Korean culture and the tight-knit plot with a fixed number of episodes are some of the factors that hook the viewers.

Shubhada Nair has been watching K-dramas since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic in April 2020 and was introduced to them by younger members of her family who watched the dramas and also listened to K-pop music. While her favourite K-pop band is BTS, she has quite a few favourite dramas, Itaewon Class and Kingdom and Vincenzo being among them. Her favourite character is Moon Sang Tae from 'It's Okay Not To Be Okay'.

The 62-year-old homemaker, who watches them in Hindi or with subtitles on Netflix, says "Unlike other dramas that I have seen, K-dramas like 'Itaewon Class' and 'It's Okay to Not be Okay' have unique storylines, usually related to lessons on life, relationships and even concerning social realities such as racism, mental health concerns and issues faced by transgender individuals. The casting is always good and all the emotions are portrayed well."

In the absence of the 9 pm daily soap episodes during the lockdown, K-dramas kept them curious and occupied. So much so that they did not mind ditching Indian television serials for Korean drama series.

"While Hindi serials are too depressing at times and mostly repetitive with predictive stories, K-dramas are unique with good continuity until the final episode. Moreover their fashion, lifestyle, food and polite language are also too attractive," says Hiramma, whose love for K-dramas has convinced her to add ‘Seoul trip' to her checklist.

(With inputs from Nascimento Pinto)

You can read the fifth part of the series here:

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