Desi Hallyu fans experience a different kind of rush of emotions altogether when Kpop idols cover Bollywood or any other Indian musical hit. In the past few years, these artistic connections between South Korea and India have been further solidified due to the several crossovers, ranging from Indian-Australian music producer Tushar Apte collaborating with BTS for Home and BLACKPINK for Love to Hate Me and Appu Krishnan working with GOT7, to Eric Nam joining forces with Indian singer-songwriter, Armaan Malik in 2021 for the song Echo ft Indian-origin American singer KSHMR, and AleXa appearing on her own song Tattoo‘s music cover with independent singer Ashwin Bhaskar, based in Kerela.
Tightening up these ties, the upcoming Lollapalooza India 2024 to be held in Mumbai on January 27-28, 2024, will also see Eric Nam and THE ROSE taking to the stage. With each passing year, these Indo-Korean connections are only deepening, and the same has also been reflected in the way narrative has started to switch around from K-pop artists appropriating and stereotyping Indian culture, to finally appreciating its warmth. 2019 was especially one of the greatest years in Indian history in terms of seeing the incoming traffic of K-pop idols to the South Asian country for their tours and concerts.
These past moments and more recent advents have given rise to numerous heartwarming Kpop-Bollywood highlights, and here are some of them.
Kpop Idols Cover Bollywood: 8 Times Desi Hallyu Moments Came Alive
1. Kim Woojin Chaleya Dance Cover
The former Stray Kids member made his solo debut in 2021, and finally in 2023, he kicked off the Kim Woojin The Moment India Tour, which was held in cities Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and Dimapur in October. The Kpop idol busted his moves with Indian CUBS (fandom name) to the Shah Rukh Khan blockbuster hit Jawan‘s song Chaleya, originally sung by Arijit Singh.
He was also joined by the multinational girl group X:IN, who made their Indian debut at the K-Wave Festival 2023 in Bengaluru, in a separate dance cover video, shot live on stage. Additionally, Woojin and X:IN (member Aria hails from India) also briefly grooved along to Badshah’s 2016 track Kala Chashma, from the film Baar Baar Dekho.
Woojin and X:IN Kala Chashma Performance
2. BLITZERS Bollywood Dance Cover of Kukkad
In May 2023, hello82 invited the South Korean boy band BLITZERS for an interview segment that featured the members reacting to Indian music videos like the Bajirao Mastani OST Malhari (song by Vishal Dadlani), the Academy Award-winning Telugu song Naatu Naatu from the 2022 film RRR. The same video also shared a quick and brief glimpse of their rendition of the song’s power-packed and the insanely high-paced hook step. They go on to watch the 2021 film Shershaah‘s romantic video of Raataan Lambiyan and the over-the-top and much-loved and iconic video of Bole Chudiyan from the 2001 Karan Johar directorial Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham.
Thereafter, comes their reaction to the 2012 film Student of the Year‘s song Kukkad, and its storyline leaves them in awe of Sidharth Malhotra’s robust physique as the new “chocolate boy” in town. These videos left them more curious about the actual films they were featured in due to the continued representation of storylines within music videos as well. In the end, hello82 shared a separate video capturing the boys’ dance cover to Kukkad as they have fun mirroring Varun Dhawan and Sidharth Malhotra’s moves from the original video.
In a similar video shared on the same platform, boy group EVNNE also reacted to Indian songs like Om Shanti Om, Heeriye, Kabhi Kabhi Aditi and more, while also trying their hand at recreating the moves of the Heeriye dance challenge. (song by Arijit Singh, Dulquer Salmaan, and Jasleen Royal)
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3. KARD Bom Diggy Diggy Performance
In an old interview featuring the 4 KARD members, J.Steph admitted to having watched Shah Rukh Khan’s 2008 rom-com film Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi and also proceeded to sing his version of its OST Tujh Mein Rab Dikhta Hai (originally sung by Roopkumar Rathod). The co-ed K-pop group eventually travelled to Indian cities Delhi and Guwahati in July 2019 for their first-ever concert series in the country.
As one of the biggest K-pop names to have graced the live Indian audience, the group’s concert news was enough to leave Hally fans in awe of what was to come ahead, but there was no way of knowing and anticipating that KARD would end up turning into our very own Desi performers for the night.
During their concert, they ended up singing Jasmin Walia and Zack Knight’s 2018 banger hit Bom Diggy Diggy, featured in the Hindi film Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. Despite the language being something foreign to them, the fans were delighted with the extremely well-attempted KARD Bollywood cover and the members’ Hindi pronunciations.
4. MONT Bollywood Cover of Hawayein
In 2018, MONT, the K-pop boy group under FM Entertainment, stepped out for their Indian concert series in cities, Nagaland, Imphal, Manipur, and Delhi. Later in 2019, they came back to reunite with their Indian fans in Mumbai and Bengaluru too. However, it was the former 2018 fan-meet event in Delhi that brought about one of the most iconic moments of their tour, a much-loved and memorable highlight for Indian fans especially.
The M.O.N.T members took to the stage at Delhi’s Korean Culture Centre India venue and belted out melodious tunes of the song Hawayein (sung by Arijit Singh) from the 2017 film Jab Harry Met Sejal. They also performed the song at the Hornbill International Music Festival in Nagaland.
5. VAV Pehla Nasha Music Cover
In yet another Kpop meets Bollywood special video, VAV took the Indian audience by surprise in Delhi and Imphal in 2019. The sextet, with members St.Van, Ace, Ayno, Jacob, Lou and Ziu, debuted in 2015 under A Team Entertainment, and their Indian visit further consolidated Indian locations as ideal concert grounds for K-pop groups. The video linked below was shot at Delhi’s Siri Fort Auditorium as the members serenaded the fans with their flattering cover of the song Pehla Nasha (by Sadhana Sargam and Udit Narayan), the hit song from 1992 sports drama film Jo Jeeta Wohi Sikandar that still holds a special place in the hearts of Indian audiences.
6. 3YE Dilbar Dance Cover
The GH Entertainment girl group is a 3-member unit with Yuji, Yurim, and Haeun. Debuting in 2019, the group went over and beyond to share their full-fledged rendition of the song Dilbar, originally sung by Neha Kakkar, Dhvani Bhanushali, Ikka, and featured in the 2018 Hindi film Satyameva Jayate. In the Indian action thriller flick, this song’s choreography was performed by Nora Fatehi, who later caught sight of 3YE’s version of the song and even left a comment under the YouTube video. Yuji, Yurim, and Haeun didn’t merely pull up with their dance cover of the song, but also made an even greater attempt to make the song their own by singing it as well.
7. IN2IT and AleXa Bole Chudiyan Dance Cover
Now known as Skye, the K-pop boy group, formerly referred to as IN2IT, during their IN2ITxION India tour in 2019, opted for a Bollywood number for their setlist. With guest star AleXa, members Hyunuk, Inho, Inpyo, Isaac, Jiahn and Yeontae came out to deliver their iconic rendition of the Hindi song Bole Chudiyan from the movie Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham. While AleXa stepped out in an emerald lehenga, the boys owned the desi style by donning golden dupattas with their classic black suit-and-tie look.
IN2IT’s pitstops during their Indian tour back then included cities Mumbai and Delhi. Additionally, the boy group and the soloist also partnered up in the same year to dance their heart to Student of the Year 2‘s The Jawaani Song.
8. Aoora Woh Kisna Hai Music Cover
Aoora also reacted to the Naatu Naatu music video with boy group TAN. More such niche Korean artists also try their hand with Indian songs and dances in videos shared on the HBCHOUSE YouTube channel. One of them has been linked below.
Aoora and Bz-Boys Dance to South Indian Song Kalapakkaara
Which of these Kpop idols’ Bollywood connection did you love the most? Let us know your dream Kpop and Indian collaboration in the comments section below.
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