Indosiar has a talent-scouting reality show Galaxy Star with its concept drafted by the Korean music industry. Winners of the talent show will be flown to South Korea to receive training in vocals and dancing, as well as getting a makeover. They will also be prepped to be the next Asian stars.

In the film industry, Indonesian actors Atiqah Hasiholan and Rio Dewanto recently starred alongside Korean singer Eru in writer-turned-director Titien Wattimena’s first movie Hello Goodbye, a love story about two people with different perspectives on love and life. Eru hoped to be able to visit Indonesia to attend the film’s premiere, which is slated to be at the end of the year or in early 2013.

“I will come and promote my song ‘Black Glasses’, which became the film’s soundtrack,” he said as quoted by kompas.com.

There will also be a Korean-Indonesian joint drama series titled Saranghae, I Love You starring Indonesian actress Revalina S. Temat and Korean singer Tim.

The drama, which tells a love story about a couple coming from two different cultures, is set in South Korea and Indonesia. Written and produced by Indonesian director Noto, the romantic drama will have a total of 30 episodes.

Shooting of the dram began in March in South Korea, with Tim scheduled to fly to Indonesia for shoots in Jakarta and Bali. The drama will air in July on Indonesian TV and will also be broadcast in Malaysia.

Tim will play the role of a top Korean singer named Young Min, who comes to Indonesia to clear up a misunderstanding involving his father and mother. During his visit various events unfold.

Korean entertainment news portal allkpop.com reported that a representative from Tim’s agency said that Tim found the role to be burdensome, not only because he got a leading role in the first Korean-Indonesian joint drama, but also because his acting experience was limited to starring in musicals. Tim has been active not only as a singer, but also received recognition for his acting skills in the musical The Harmonium in My Memory last year.

“We are looking forward to seeing his acting skills. We hope that fans can support and encourage Tim not only as a singer, but in his endeavor to grow as an actor as well,” the representative said.

A craze for Asian performers is nothing new in Indonesia. There was the Japanese-drama trend in the 1980s (Oshin) that made a come-back in mid-1990s (Tokyo Love Story), as well as the Chinese-drama series of the early 1990s (Judge Bao, White Snake Legend, and Return of Condor Heroes) and Taiwanese drama in early 2000s Meteor Garden, which featured four good-looking actors brought together in the group F4.

Jumping on the bandwagon of the success of Meteor Garden, local TV channels aired an adaptation of the drama series. But it was singer/actress Agnes Monica who got a role alongside one of Meteor Garden’s F4 members Jerry Yan in The Hospital, a drama series about the struggle of a young doctor to maintain integrity amid malpractice accusations.

With the two-way exchange of performers this time around, perhaps the wave of interest in all things Korean will last a bit longer than previous trends before it starts its inevitable ebb. 

— Tifa Asrianti

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