Manipur - A little corner of Korea in India

This BBC News series focuses on aspects of life in countries and cities around the world. What may seem ordinary and familiar to the people who live there can be surprising to those who do not.

India's film industry, Bollywood, is the country's most dominant form of popular culture.

But there is one exception to this rule - the tiny state of Manipur in the north-east, where separatists have banned Bollywood movies.

As a result, Manipuri film fans have been looking a little further afield - to Korea. And it's not just Korean movies that have taken hold in the region - the country's influence has also filtered down into fashion and hairstyles, as Sanjoy Majumder discovers.

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• Manipur

[bobeeish]

HA HA.... ITS VERY FUNNY AN INDIAN MENTION ABOUT OUR IDENTITY AS WE GOT CONNECTED WITH THE KOREAN CULTURE... I MYSELF WORKING IN BANGALORE HAD BEEN LIVING IN MUMBAI DELHI... BUT I HAD NEVER FELT LIKE M LIVING IN MY OWN COUNTRY.... 98% OF INDIAN DOESN'T KNOW WHERE IS MANIPUR... EVEN THOUGH WE MANIPURI ARE THE MAIN EXPOSURE OF INDIAN SPORTS IN THE WORLD.... FEEL PITY SHAME TO BE AN INDIAN LIVING IN INDIA AS IF LIVING IN A FOREIGN LAND

[missbirdie1]

awesome :D its cool that k-pop has reached India ^^

I hope it catches on, because honestly the heavy American influence is making India and Bollywood less unique by the minute. It'd be nice to see some real multiculturalism in India, even though I'm from Bangladesh :P

Let's spread the Hallyu Wave :D

[rockywahengbam]

WE ARE TREATED AS ALIENS IN OUR OWN COUNTRY >>>TTS WHY WE MANIPURI ARE ANGRY!!! Frenzzz watch my videos to know the greatness of Manipur, The Shangrila!!!!

[Linmak1]

Stupid video......

Hav u ever heard maibee dance ,gang nghai, manipuri dance,pung cholon,thabal chongba, thang taa, sumang lila, orange festival,Miss Kut n so on........

If u don't knw any of dis u mayang sucs......your report sucs......Nang video sidi huithu naaa.............

[jijo917]

@Rachelalo19

i am from kerala and we know a lot about manipuri people and its culture, we don't call you chinkies, there may be some people who doesn't know about manipur, all people are not like them, and love for your country should be unconditional it should not be depending upon other person's views, as an indian i have great love and respect for all manipuri indians

[Rachelalo19]

My frens from hyderabad thought manipur is an another country .. They were suprised when i said manipur is one of the state of india .. Bollywood sucks n kpop is the best .. Its best to live like korean n japanese style .. Manipuris n other north east look similar to korean japanese n people from south north indians think we r one of them ...

N i hate the word 'chinkies' ,always criticising us. I hate being an indian citizen

[killwitchguy]

A Mainaland Indian would never understand the cultural diversity of the North east. All they care about is exploiting it. we have maintained our culture despite all the western and far east influences. MAINLAND INDIANS DON'T EVEN THINK WE ARE INDIANS FIRST OF ALL..WHAT RIGHT DO THEY HAVE TO TALK ABOUT OUR CULTURE. GO COVER SOME BOLLWOOD ACTORS OR RAPE CASES IN NORTH INDIA

[mangalN47]

"the irony of course, somewhere along the way, the question of what is manipuri identity and culture hav just got lost" the last line is very misleading! the identities of dis part of the world cannot be compared to some other countries.. n it cannot certainly be prejudiced just by the trends of some portions of the youths!

[9774468328]

@bobeeish ya m studying BE in bangalore they thought that manipur is a foreign country

[jgdsh100]

better to live like korean ............... bollywood style SUCKS

[ichibanbattosai]

i was so happy when i found k dramas in my dvd store in kerala!!

woot woot kpop yay!! gosh i hope this doesnt mean bollywood would start copying kdrama and kpop music >.<