Meet Mumbai’s K-pop superstars

Regional winners of the city at the All India K-pop Contest 2023, Axiom speak to mid-day about their journey in this form of Korean music, future plans and how they juggle their careers and passion

All eyes in the auditorium were on the five people on the stage, waiting for their performance to begin. Three of these performers were sitting on their haunches on the stage, while two others were standing behind them. Their hands were folded under their chests and they were looking at the ground. Their first position could easily give away the K-pop song they had chosen for the competition. Once the cues were given, their heads popped up in sync to the lyrics, “Ant-ti-ti-ti fragile,” and the audience in a SoBo venue started hollering.

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Axiom members prepare their costumes

“We put in a lot of time to just decide which song to pick. The song we performed last year was underrated. We wanted to go with a more mainstream song this time,” reveals Axiom, city-based K-pop dance group which won the regional round of the All India K-pop Contest 2023. This competition was hosted on July 25 in Cumballa Hill’s Sophia College to mark the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic relationships between Korea and India. Axiom, which came first in the regional round last year as well, was under a lot of pressure because not only were people expecting a lot from them, but this was also the first time they were going to perform offline in front of hundreds of die-hard K-pop fans from across the city and suburbs.

The challenge in this competition was to recreate an already existing K-pop song as closely as the participants could. Axiom — a group of 17 dancers, of whom only five took part in the competition as per availability for practice and final showdown — worked for over a month to perfect the dance routine and the costumes. “When it comes to K-pop, stage presence, confidence and expression are the most important elements,” reveals 21-year-old Dishita Thakkar, who founded the group in 2021. “After we picked our song [Antifragile by LE Sserafim], we spent so many hours scouring the markets for the right fabric and accessories to get the look we imagined. We tailored and designed our costumes by cutting and shaping our jeans or painting our fabrics wherever required. It took a lot of effort, especially because everyone has other [academic and internship-related] commitments, and we live far from each other, too.”

Of the five people who were performing, Thakkar and 18-year-old Khushi Bhatt reside in Malad, 19-year-old Saisha Nirmal is from Bandra, 21-year-old Aparna Menon is from Goregaon and 19-year-old Rishabh Sadasivan is a Thanekar. “We started as online friends from the [Indian] K-pop community,” says Thakkar about the girls. Sadasivan joined four months ago after Axiom started adding boys to the group for the first time after an audition.

The group’s choreography replicates the opening position of Antifragile

Stressing on the importance of parental support for such a venture, the girls reveal, “Sometimes, we return home late after practice. At first, our parents thought this group was just about fun and games. But as Axiom started growing, they realised that it is so much more than that. They are all very proud of us. They keep sharing links of our dance on our family groups. We are not even sure our relatives understand what K-pop is, but they stay updated with all our dance routines — thanks to our parents.” Axiom currently has over 30,000 followers on Instagram. They get many offers to collaborate with brands, which assures that the group is financially supported, too.

For Thakkar, who was bullied in high school, dancing became the way she coped and Axiom became her confidence, family and support system. “Axiom may never become our full-time job. This is something we all do to escape from our daily lives. Giving it the name of a career might take away the fun part of it. For now, it is a passion project. And even though we started out as a K-pop dance group and it will continue to remain a huge part of us, we’re not restricting ourselves to the genre. As the group keeps building and growing, we are open to all [dance-related] opportunities.”

The group is now preparing for the semi-final round of the competition later this month, where winners from different regions of the country will compete in Delhi. We’ll be rooting for these Mumbaikar K-pop stars to rock the stage.

Log on to: @axiom­­­­­_official_ (Instagram); @axiomofficial on YouTube (for complete regional round performance)

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