Hana dul set!
Niga neomu joha
ottoke ottoke~
niga neomu yeppeo
ottoke ottoke~
Mmmm, look who started humming as the song goes by. Seems like these lyrics can uplift your mood in a jiffy.
You might even struggle to pronounce these lines properly if you are not familiar with Korean songs. But the fans will tell you that these are some famous lines from a famous song by the Girl Group’s HyoJung.
Korean drama or K-drama has tremendous influence. Ask any youngster what is his/her favourite pastime, there is a high chance you will find a significant section of them will mumble binge-watching Korean Drama.
Enough of Saas-Bahu fight
Every household admired watching Hindi serials once, but their preferences are now changing. Hindi and Pakistani serials seem to be lost in the crowd of the K-drama world.
Almost all Indian dramas come with repeated plots, illogical twists, cliched Saas-Bahu stories with gaudy ornaments that seem an exaggeration every time.
And the never-ending continuation of episodes that last years, whereas Korean dramas have only a few episodes that can be watched in no time.
Covering all genres, precise in size
K-dramas serials mostly revolve around family-oriented stories. For instance, the drama ‘Reply 1988’ is and which is wrapped in only 20 episodes.
Not only family-oriented, but K-drama also has prominence in every genre. From action drama ‘Signal,’ rom-com ‘Crash Landing On You,’ ‘It's Okay Not To Be Okay,’ ‘Boys Over Flower,’ supernatural ‘Goblin: The Lonely And Great God’ and zombie series ‘All Of Us Are Dead,’ to Sci-fi thriller ‘The Silent Sea,’ K-drama gaining popularity in every genre.
And how can we skip the ‘Squid Game’? It stole a massive 1.65 billion hours of viewing time in just 28 days following its September 17 premiere, according to Netflix.
Realistic portrayal does the magic
Fatema Fazrin Oishi is an Assistant Director of Bangladesh bank. In a chit chat with the writer, she explained why she shifted towards K-drama land.
“I always long for something realistic. Most of the serials other than K-drama, have a crappy storyline, with newlyweds being tortured by in-laws, silly secrets being revealed, and their background ‘dhimtana na na’ music.”
“Their glamorous looks, even when going to the kitchen, make it more unrealistic with awful expressions."
That’s where K-drama wins the battle - showing life as it is.
"I switched to K-drama as it has a strong storyline and is mostly youth based rather than all these aunty stuff."
Most of the K-dramas come with unique storylines and strong emotional display. Those who are tired of watching average stories, hence jump into the K-world.
Shipra Khondokar, an undergrad student pursuing her degree in management, claims herself a K-drama addict.
"I watch Hindi, Pakistani, Chinese, Thai and Japanese dramas, but the plots of the K-dramas are the best. C-dramas are good but their storylines aren’t that strong.”
Shipra points out another popular element of K-drama, the good-looking characters.
“Korean actors are so stunning to look at. And the realistic attire with a tad bit of makeup makes it more intense and natural."
Unavoidable flipside
Well, there is an inevitable flipside of all the goodness that K-dramas have. Rahat Khan, a journalist from a national television channel, thinks that something is not right about this extreme popularity of dramas.
He feels these dramas create irrational expectations in the viewers’ psyche and they somehow cultivate weird standards of behaviour. He even didn’t shy away to mention that his girlfriend is a K-drama lover and some of her traits produce annoyance sometimes.
"I have no bias towards Korean dramas but binge-watching them without having any idea of what is going on around is not appreciable.”
“And what's wrong with actors, why on earth would they put lipstick on? My girlfriend sometimes asks me to be one of them."
Mr Rahat has all the reasons in the world to be upset if he is asked to emulate foreign beauty standards that he doesn’t hate but neither does he loves.
Not only strong plots, but K-drama also blessed its audiences with some melodious Original Sound Tracks (OST) that are way too better than the Bollywood remix.
'Stay with me,' ‘For you,’ ‘Every time,’ ‘Say yes’ are a few of the most famous OSTs.
From oversized hoodies, pleated skirts, Baggie jeans to casual Korean words like oppa, unni, saranghae, sill-ye-ham-ni-da, gomapseumnida, aigoo, etc. have become synonymous with drama fans.
While the nature of art and culture is that the best will simply prevail over others, there is absolutely no harm in liking K-drama and songs.
However, getting influenced to an extent that your expectations start shaping up by these contents might not be the ideal way to enjoy it.
The writer is a third-year student pursuing her BBA in Tourism and Hospitality Management at the University of Dhaka.
meghrahman1234@gmail.com