INDIA'S K-CRAZE

Korean music, drama, food and beauty products are becoming the new cool for millions of young Indians

- By SONAL KHETARPAL and SUHANI SINGH Photograph by BANDEEP SINGH with Shelly Anand

An unusual ARMY of 80 assembled in a studio in Mumbai on July 13. All clad in purple, they screamed what seemed to be the names of their deities: “Kim Namjoon! Kim Seokjin! Min Yoongi! Jung Hoseok! Park Jimin! Kim Taehyung! Jeon Jungkook! BTS!” They were chanting the names of the seven members of the wildly popular Korean boy band, BTS or The Bangtan Boys. The occasion? The annual get-together of their devoted fanbase, which calls itself the ARMY, short for Adorable Representative M.C. for Youth. Among them were besties Vanessa Daniel, 33, and Diana D’Souza, 36, one a teacher and the other dayjobbing at a top corporate. Between bites of purple-frosted cupcakes, they shared what BTS means for them. “Emotionally, they offer me a lot of support,” says Vanessa. Adds Diana: “I don’t go to a therapist, I turn to them.”

She has company. Today’s hour of bonding over BTS comes courtesy organiser Ayushree Tari, founder of the Mumbai BTS fan club and owner of The Purple Door, a company named after the band's signature colour and logo. On Ayushree’s left hand is a tattoo of her favourite BTS track 'Mikrocosmos'; on the right, a logo of their album Love Yourself. Also around was 19-year-old Sai Chikane, who is studying medicine in Vietnam but had flown down to Mumbai to dance to a K-Pop medley. Elsewhere, dance crew WEUNITE held a workshop for fans to hone their choreography—and their attitudes. With five BTS members having recently completed their mandatory military service in South Korea, the band will reunite in Spring 2026. For fans, the countdown has begun.

K-POP SOUND SENSATIONS

• BTS (The Bangtan Boys): Insanely popular 7-member boy band, and the first K-Pop act to get Grammy nomination

• BLACKPINK: One of Korea's leading girl bands, known for their fashion as much as music