To my and friends; who always ask me... "how did u end up watching Korean dramas???" ... "Why k dramas??"
(I swear, I think when my parents found out about my k drama addiction, they thought I was seeing a Korean... hehehehehehe :D )
EDIT: After reading this one of my friends has suggested that in "पिछला जनम" i was a korean :P Which would explain the addiction to k dramas :D
(Uh ... k dramas = Korean dramas... err... if that wasn't clear earlier)
Once upon a time, when we were younger and jobless in our final year of engineering at NITK, I discovered something called DC++ and the abundant amount of time pass that the LAN had to offer. I had just gotten a new laptop and so I was all ready to be entertained, more so cos, in final year semesters, you have very few classes and are expected to concentrate on getting good jobs and doing a good worthwhile projects. Of course most of us didn't bother to do that and took the liberty and free time to update ourselves on the latest (and older) serials/series and movies.
Now one year is a long time and almost continuous watching of movies and serials (with the obvious 'break-time' to attend some classes to maintain some amount of attendance), and I had exhausted the list of all watchable (and some unbearable unwatchable) English and Hindi movies and series. I had seen EVERY possible romcom, comedy,historical, action, mystery, thriller movie and I was so bored that I even started watching series. Some were quite good and kept me hooked, while most others didn't do much for me...(I just couldn't get past 3 rd season of grays anatomy and 2nd season of heroes and no prison break .. tough luck.. although i am told the 1st season is really good... perhaps.. some other time.)
So, it was the last few months in college. I was just doing a random search on LAN and found this movies called "innocent steps". Just to be sure, I googled it, (..the number of times i have found misleading names on LAN!!!), thought it safe enough, watched it... and loved it (and RAN to my friends room and told them to watch it :D ) ... after a while we all wanted some more.. so we saw the few other k movies on LAN..( I skipped the horror / gore movie though) and I was HOOKED!! I am told ... (Rambling 1)....
So... After coming back from college I was so unplugged from regular TV entertainment, I started watching k movies at home. And after almost an year of that.. ( I have a lot to say bout k movies too.. but thats for another post), I exhausted the list of good watchable romcom light comedy funny movies too. In all my searches I had read some stuff about dramas too... but I wasn't sure.. cos downloading an entire series is much different than downloading a short, one and a half hour movie... It takes time to download and to finish a series, which is why I stopped watching series in first place. Anyway... some research on and I thought I'd give it a try.. After considerable amount of reading and thinking, I finally decided (at 1 in the morning) to start watching "on-air". I liked the premise of the story and it was rated quite high on mysoju.com at that time.. and shallow that I am.. I really liked how the poster (and the hero :D ) looked...
Hehe.. I remember it took me 3 to 4 times of watching the first episode to
a) read the subs
b) correlate the subs to who is saying what
c) remember who is who
d) figure out what was happening
hehehe... Later ...(Rambling 2)....
So far I have watched about 12-15 dramas and my views/reviews on/f them are for (yet another) post. This post is just a general rambling on k dramas and why I watched them.
So now you have the history and the set-up of how I first got into k drama land (I think set-up and history are very important to understand why some one likes something or why some thin came in to existence. It offers a validation and some good background info if you really want to understand something).
So why I recommended k dramas : ( I don't mean to degrade / bash Indian TV industry in the next few paras... but as i said... u have to know that i was really bugged with them at home.. which is why I started watching k dramas... so my reasons for k drama addiction will often site the bad sides of Indian TV entertainment)
1) My FIRST and MOST IMPORTANT reason! they are short and sweet.
Most dramas have a limited episodes. mostly 16- or 20- eps long. (although there are serials that run for more than 100 eps too, which tend to be family dramas and very plotty and melodramatic (called makjang .. out saas-bahu equivalents). you can finish them easily and ditch them if ti gets too boring without feeling guilty of wasting so much internet time downloading ( I usually never watch a drama seriously unless its done downloading. Oh...(Rambling 3)....
2) Different themes
Short lengths ensure that the story gets over early and so you have a larger number of dramas to be produced every year... which gives the opportunity to keep things new and introduce new themes every time. while many dramas use themes just as plot devices and are often reduced to backgrounds that are rarely made use off in the actual story, You'll find many dramas that do decent amount of research into a topic and use it well to form a story. While not all dramas have this advantage, most of the ones I've seen, do. Which is why i really liked "on air" it was a show about making serials and that was what they stuck to. They definitely had a lot of melodrama, but all was in line with the story and its background. Which doesn't happen in Indian TV serials (although the trend is changing, but not so much)
Counter argument 1: If we keep having too many dramas you'll run out of stories.
Counter argument 2: We have different story lines in the same serial. when we finish with one story line we start with a new one. So you don't waste time with introducing new characters and new stories every time. Your main protagonists are already popular and so you save time on setting up back ground.
....(Rambling 4)....
counter counter argument 1: that wont happen if your story is well written and well researched.. there are too many things in the world.. you'll never run out of stories (unless u stick to popular stories and cliches)...(lame counter argument... i know.. but its true!)
counter counter argument 2: While there is advantage in that, your characters become multi talented and start having multi personalities
3) Well produced, well acted, "movie - like" feel
Watch them and you'll know what am talking about. The acting and execution made me think am watching a movie. (Much like how u feel wen u now watch the YRF produced serials on SONY TV these days: i refer to powder rishta.com, mahi way etc etc etc)
hehe normally wen u watch TV there is always this TV serial like feel .. cos of the sets or costumes or make up or actors or wtvr.
4) Asian culture
There is no doubt that in all Asian countries there runs a common thread of similar traditions, social and cultural beliefs. So its very easy to connect to these serials on a cultural level.
Although understanding what is happening in a English serial/ movie is not really a problem (esp for urban kids who have grown up watching HBO/star movies/star world ), we know that our lives are way different that theirs and the stuff that happens in TV lives don't happen in ours. while we all know what a prom is.. we have never been to one. this way English serials often are a dreamland we escape to. (what watching English serials have done to mentality of youth in India is YET another post... too long to ramble about).
Also, am a big fan of learning different things bout different cultures, which is why I like(d) some serials on TV that are setup in a non urban environment ,and show the different festivals and cultures of different regions in India. (I stopped watching these shows for other reasons explained in reason 2 of this list); which is why I like watching k dramas. while ...(Rambling 5)....
5) OST
Great songs and great background score.(I got this from an Discovery documentary called "hip korea"). Its a long analysis. But in short: the music industry has suffered greatly, in connected countries like Korea, Singapore etc) cos of internet downloading of songs and file sharing. This forces artists to find new ways to earn their keep and to change their scene of work. Which is why its common to find big names contribute to OST of drama. In India we haven't even heard of an OST for dramas (except for their title songs, which are many times sung by famous artists)
6) Great Looking clothes / sets / scenes / actors :D
time for some netrasukh. For VARIOUS reasons (importance of looking good and young in Korea, scary netizens and HUGE fan clubs) actors/actresses in k dramas always tend to look and dress up well. Most sageuks (historical dramas) will make u feel like u should live in Korea... (by which I mean the place so well captured on camera, and not that India lacks beautiful spots or isn't beautiful.)
7) The Language
Watching k dramas has made me appreciate how difficult it is translate and make subs! we all know its not as simple as just translation. u have ti maintain the tone, language, kind of language spoken by characters, make sure that the jokes make sense in English)... hats off to all fan subbers!! Also, the Korean language doesn't sound that alien to an Indian viewer (esp if coming from south India. Apparently, Korean and Tamil grammar and language are very similar and yes, it is very noticeable). Oh ya... their script is fun to read. its a phonetic language (unlike Chinese) and is easy to learn. :D
8)Fangirling!!!!
This is something that I did when I was a teenager in high school. For some reason.. I never swooned and drooled on celebrity crushes.. so the whole fan girl thing was alien to me... UNTIL I saw k drama and saw how fanatic people can get... let me tell u... if u haven't tried fan-girling openly... do it once.. you'll feel soooooooooooo good :)
9)Discussions and analysis
For the first time I've seriously tried to understand characters in TV shows. While most of do this to fictional characters from books (and sometimes in movies) i never took characters in TV serials seriously before. Perhaps ...(Rambling 6) ....
Discovery of the site dramabeans.com.. this is great discovery. There are many blogs about k drama, k movies,k pop etc, that analyze and "deconstruct", this one is top class. Visit the blog and you'll see why i like it so much.
Check out dramabeans... Click here
10)They are really addicting!
So if u watch one you'll end up wanting to watch one more and then more and more :D.. ahhhh sigh......
(NOTE: i have tried my best to sound rational in my reasons. if i were to be my shallow - self and allow myself to ramble and run with it the above list would also include a loooooooooot of fangirling and drooling and swooning :D ... )
Let me just end this with a list of k dramas I really like and would recommend (I may not include many popular dramas that are usually included in list. this could be cos
a) i haven't seen them
b) i didn't like them
c) liked them but don't really recommend people watching it first time
Of course, there are dramas that I REALLY liked, but many may not and some that i haven't finished but i REALLY like.It personal taste. My views on these dramas is another post. Oh! and don't go by names. They sound a but weird in English, which is why I was VERY reluctant to watch coffee prince :D.. am so glad I did. it cemented by k drama addiction)
1. First Shop of Coffee Prince
2. The World that they Live in/ Worlds Within
(source: https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDrb4zckLMMSdtOLcu-4cjJfdDZir6MqdDSvXRD-IIpQ5-hvyj0MNjcb596ni1uIbF3D2TLpoo47sJQnca2pwIpPHFlXqB8Fbr6W9C1OcIiyx6fTJOtLwmT-bKAAPFK2clJbsOJyuqPtI/s400/worlds+within+poster.jpg)3. My name is Kim Sam Soon/My lovely Sam Soon
(source : http://image.yesasia.com/assets/GalleryImage/r_g0000001099_0_01.jpg)
(source : http://mrkpop.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/painterwind.jpg)
(source: http://www.koreandrama.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/youarebeautiful2.jpg)
(source:http://sites.google.com/site/cmeiyee/badfamilypic.jpg)7. Goong/Princess Hours
(source: http://www.freewebs.com/dramadreams/korean%20drama%20pics/goong.jpg)
(source: http://trends.korea.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/chuno1.jpg)Oh here's a japanese drama I just finished watching and I REALLY loved (have seen only 2 of those) : Nodame Cantabile
( I started reading manga/manhwa cos of jdorama and k dramas :D)
(source:http://saraineilan.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/nodame-cantabile-banner.jpg)******************************************************************************
Rambling Session # 2
Rambling 1:Rambling Session # 2
I am told that Korean movies are as popular as mainstream movies in the northeast regions of India due to a 'bandh' on satellite TV and movies in some states in the region.. which lead to smuggling of Filipino, Chinese, Taiwanese and Korean movies and dramas. So... am guessing whoever put it on on LAN was from NE party??? can't be too sure though....
Anyhoo.... whoever put it on LAN.. a biiiiiiiig thank you from my side... cos if it weren't for these Korean movies I wouldn't have survived my first year at home from college....back to top
Rambling 2 :
It was on later, after i finished seeing the drama, and i went and researched some more bout it that i realized that MANY people (including regular watchers) had trouble digesting the first ep of this drama... although i dismissed it as a newbie's difficulty in understanding and getting used to the pace. ANYWAY... i really really liked it and told ALL my friends about it... hehehe... although they weren't on the k-movie/k-drama bandwagon and so didn't really take much interest. Me, on the other hand, addicted to Korean movies for an year and a half then, was in serious vacuum when i finished watching on-air and found it totally enjoyable. it that got me to watch my next drama... "COFFEE PRINCE"!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My number ONE drama and i recommend it anyone who id interested in some light hearted but not shallow entertainment....back to top
Rambling 3:
oh... that pain of waiting for the next episode... i did that for a drama recently. a watched a drama while it was being aired on TV. the first 10 eps i watched continuously since i started late. but ep 11 to 16 was such torture to wait for. It was like being on drugs. (not that I've been on them. but wtvr.) The show aired on wed 0 thu time slot. so i would download it / watch it on you tube in the wee hours of thu and fri... and oh! the entire weekend i would sulk in anticipation. on Mondays it was the worst. Towards the last week even browsing bout the drama, reading recaps, listening to songs from the OST and searching for pics would bring no relief!!
I promised myself never ever to do that.. but! i have broken that rule and now am watching chuno as it is being aired... sigh.. am in a pitiable state. :( ...back to top
Rambling 4::
What i mean is.. in most dramas ( i talk bout Indian TV serials, but not restricting to them, even many k dramas suffer from this too) you'll have a heroine who is ... a... say...a fashion designer. In the first few eps you'll see her with a sketch pad and some fabric... but thats it.. after a week.. after meeting the hero and all that everything bout work is forgotten! She hardly goes to office, or design stuff, or have showings etc etc etc. And after she is married there is no mention of her working also... sigh... and once that happens .. .we enter our "favorite territory" plotting and saas-bahu. we even forget what we started with. like first we have someone trying to poison the heroine and then once that whole story is over we bring in a new story of how the hero was already married once and his wife is now a ghost in the house ( i am not making this up people.There is the story of famous novel Rebbecca which was SUDDENLY incorporated in a serial called saat phere.. which originally dealt with how it is difficult for a dark skinned girl to get married ... no relation to original story). This is supposed to happen in India cos the producers take much of the decision making role in the story writing instead of the actual scriptwriters (i got this from a TOI Sunday edition article). ...back to top
Rambling 5:
WHILE i know these are all serials and hardly represent the actual way people in Korea may live, it gives an insight into their culture and their social practices. It also gives an offers an opportunity to compare how 2 different countries (India and Korea) which gained independence in near about the same time (gone through different histories) and modern yet traditional.. in complementary manners. (This again is a topic for a long and much more serious discussion.. one that i would like to think more and then write. but lets take a small example,.. not that what i am writing now is very well though of... but wtvr...) Small example: and not really a good one.. a very simplistic one. In India.. its very common to see everyday people wear so called ethnic clothes on a daily basis. MOST Indian women wear saris or salwar kameez (whether they work or not). Its not uncommon to see men wearing kurta too. This (i think, from what i gather not JUST from serials but other blogs too) is not common in Korea. I don't think people wear hanbok everyday and go to work. Its only worn on festivals and traditional occasions. But then, there are so many other traditional aspects of living that are still retained in Korea but their counterpart in India is missing. (for some reason i am unable to come up with an example to support this... cos I've hardly been to Korea or even spoken to a korean). But ok.. I have one (weak??) example; the way one address each other in Korea is very strict and has a lot of importance in society. There are strict terms to be used and rules to be followed and who you address, when where and how is taken all very seriously. While an India society did have this (or similar situation) few decades ago, this practice is almost disappeared. Many of us, esp once we are grown up enough call our older sibling by names; in many workplaces, (esp in s/w companies) bosses are often referred to and called by names (first names, which is something I personally find awkward, cos the man/woman could be as old as ur parent!!) ... its just interesting to observe how two countries can boast of the same thing (modern yet traditional) by doing them so differently (and in a way that is almost complementary to each other)....back to top
Read this interesting article "Understanding Korean Dramas"
Rambling 6:
Perhaps they are not presented in a way to make you think seriously, or perhaps none of them are inspiring enough to make us think, "why is this person doing this" (note : I said person, and not character, by which i mean that I take these characters from k dramas much more seriously.) perhaps Indian fictional characters on TV do not seem real enough (for various reasons : events in life, nature, even their dressing) for us to even think of them as people who could exist, although many of them are inspired by real life (I heard that कहानी घर घर की was inspired by a real family of 4 (?) brothers... but look what happened in the serial. At this point is will be good to point out that perhaps i should compare like with like and not compare saas bahu serials with 'trendy k dramas' but compare them to their equivalent makjang serials. true enough.. although i haven't really seen many of those to make a comparison. and we don't HAVE short dramas to compare 'trendy k dramas' with).
of course, there are exceptions to this, and sometimes, when one of the serials enter better plot lines, its interesting to note character developments.
A SLIGHTLY off topic complaint (nothing to do with comparison with k dramas) : most our serials have heroines ho are portrayed as ideal naari and stuff. while many female protagonists start off as strong individuals, after a few months of airing, these characters turn into weepy weak punching bags for life to remove its wrath on....back to top
End of Rambling session #2
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