Riddhi Chakraborty started as a fan of K-Pop music and eventually expanded her network with music labels in Korea, China, and Thailand. Currently, she says she has access to almost every music label in Asia, including ATEEZ (shown here), BTS, and Kingdom.
In 2012, Riddhi Chakraborty was just 19 years old when she was introduced to the music video of K-pop boy band Big Bang. The song in question was “Fantastic Baby,” and the five members at the time (G-DRAGON, Taeyang, Daesung, VI and TOP), with fiery hair, impressive costumes, and deep eyeliner, have been singing since then. She chanted the chorus “Boom Shakalaka,'' which has become an anthem for fans.“Just the visual of G-DRAGON with that long, crazy hair was amazing!'' she says.
Let's fast forward to today. A K-POP enthusiast, she has now founded her own media company, 'Bridge Asia', to foster cross-cultural connections between Indian and Korean, Thai and Chinese musicians, with the brand supporting both industries. Acts as an intermediary platform for collaboration with other artists.
Chakraborty worked for music magazine Rolling Stone India in 2016 as an assistant editor and writer covering the K-pop music industry. “I started the whole K-Pop journalism movement in India. I was the first Indian to interview many artists, and I have done the most interviews with these artists to date,” she recalled. Masu. According to her, at that time, interviews with K-pop stars did not get much coverage in Indian media and publications. So she reached out through her DMs and started connecting with music labels. The first Korean artist she interviewed was R&B artist Dean.
It took her six months of researching contacts and connections before she finally connected with Big Hit Entertainment, now Hybe Coporation, the entertainment company that manages BTS. Back in 2017, the group was just establishing its presence in the Korean music industry. “I wanted to interview BTS directly. The label was surprised that someone from India reached out to them. They didn't know India was a viable market. They didn't know that India was a viable market. “It was a whole new realm for me to know that I had fans here,” she says. “They agreed to do an interview.'' When it was released, the Rolling Stones' website crashed due to the amount of attention it received, an eye-opener for everyone involved. “That was the first proof I had that there are fans in India who are eager to interact with the artists they love.”
Chakraborty noted that Indian fans already have a strong community and are “hungry” for Korean artists to speak directly to them. “Over time, I realized that this is very different from other spaces. The interaction with the fandom itself, and with the artists themselves, is very welcoming. It's a two-way street.” At that point she 's love for Korean culture was a full-time passion. “Everything about this industry appealed to me – the music, the storyline, the visuals of the videos – and I felt like I had found my niche.” Chakraborty turned to writing when he felt he had hit a plateau. I decided to quit and pursue a more interdisciplinary approach to reporting on the Asian music industry, documenting developments through video content and multimedia formats.
She said she was surprised to discover independent music and singers, as many of today's Korean artists are exposed to Bollywood music and aspects of the industry. In 2018, she started a series to “introduce” Indian music to Korean artists and vice versa. “For example, I showed Divine's music to Tiger JK and they got to know each other.” The connection between Eric Nahm and Armand Malik happened after she showed Nahm a lot of Malik's music. , they became friends. “We not only want to interact with our fans, but we also want to interact with the industry in India today,” she explains.
“The era when we discovered Korean culture was already over. They are now at a stage where they are discovering Indian culture,” she says. “For example, after 'RRR' (2022), Indian pop culture exploded globally and attracted a lot of interest from Korean artists.”
So what Bridge Asia does is act as an intermediary between Korean artists and music labels and Indian singers and brands. The media agency and consulting firm, which was officially established in February, arranges collaborations between Indian companies looking to feature Korean artists in their products. They are trying to promote their homegrown brand and make it internationally known. “We also support companies that want to bring artists to India. We are artists' agents,” she says.
What's interesting is that India and South Korea have very different work cultures, so companies have to act as cultural “translators.” “It's like 'chalta hai' working with the 'pari, pari' (hurry up, hurry up) culture,” she laughs.
Chakraborty saw G-Dragon, his favorite artist to date, live during his MOTTE World Tour in Bangkok in 2017. She says it was an emotional moment for her. However, attending BTS's concert, which she credits with her current progress, was the most dreamlike moment. “I saw them in Bangkok in 2019 and couldn't believe they were real,” she recalls. She says BTS was her inspiration to learn about the K-pop industry, and that they “came into her life when she needed it the most.”
Currently, her team is working on introducing several Korean artists to the country. They recently worked with Black Swan, one of the hottest girl groups right now, and it was a fun experience. “It would be a shame if I don't get to meet my favorite artists in my lifetime. I want that to happen for my Indian fans as well,” she concluded.
