[Rain mention][article][excerpts] Meet Manipur’s biggest pop star.
— Cloud cover by: Stephe, Managing Editor ^@@^
This extensive GQ India writeup is about Gems (pronounced “James”), the biggest pop star in Manipur (a state in India) at present, and the combined effects of “Korean style”, his mother (Ima), political strife, K-Pop, and the king of Hallyu on his singing career. South Korean mega-star Rain is still a strong influence across Asia and always will be.
The entire read is quite interesting, chock full of things I’ve never read before. ^@@^
GQ India 2/18/2015 — written by Kerry Harwin
Meet Manipur’s Biggest Pop Star
How armed militants and “Korean style” converged to create space for a new kind of Manipur star
[Excerpts]
I sit down to talk with Gems’ mother, who instructs me to call her Ima, Meitei-lon for “mother.” Her kindness is overwhelming as she comes at me, all warmth and smiles, indifferent to my comprehension. With the aid of a translator, Ima tells me that although she stumbled across her first Korean [drama] by accident – Full House, a romance she watched in 2005 – she’s been hooked ever since. These days, it’s only an invite to a Meitei film premiere that’s likely to get her to watch anything made within India’s borders. Trying to capture what it is about these films that Ima finds so appealing is more difficult than one might expect, but she keeps bringing up Rain, the protagonist of Full House and a multimedia Korean sensation with smash hit films, a television series and seven albums to his name. Finally, Gems’ elder sister, Saroja, interrupts: “She likes all the handsome boys.”
Ima’s help is focused on style and financing, and is the single biggest force behind Gems’ local success. And it isn’t hard to imagine that he’s being refashioned in the image of Ima’s beloved Rain, the Korean superstar whose acting career flourished after he won recognition as a singer. With his fair skin, high cheekbones and a feathered mane – Gems’ is a style not dissimilar from Rain’s look in his 2009 film Ninja Assassin.
» You can read this article in its entirety on GQIndia.com HERE.
Cloud USA 