Campus Beats creator on K-dramas' popularity in India: We have nothing for youth

India Today

21-05-2025

When Palki Malhotra was pitching a dance-based fiction show, Campus Beats, on OTT, little did she know it was going to be a long-term commitment. The young adult show starring Shantanu Maheshwari and Shruti Sinha recently dropped its fifth season, and for the creator, it's the relatability that created the magic. In a chat with India Today, the director opened up about the lack of content for the youth and why this generation is so fascinated with K-dramas.advertisementShe discussed how young audiences today are tilting towards Korean content because there is nothing in India for them to consume. Reasoning the phenomenon, Malhotra said that youngsters didn't have anything to watch during Covid, when the OTT boom also happened, and they slowly began leaning towards these international shows.'I think everybody latched on to Korean dramas because their hearts were wanting to see or feel that kind of love during those times. And from there, that is when it began—the frenzy of this kind of storytelling. And it just went on because, honestly, there was nothing on OTT or even on TV for that matter, which gave them that kind of rom-com or a beautiful romance. I mean, there was nothing, so people latched on to Korean dramas. It was literally that,' she said. advertisement
Malhotra added that when she first saw K-dramas, she realised it wasn't much different from what we offer, but with much better budgets. However, she maintained that their success in India happened only because there was no other show in the same language. 'We don't have many stories that talk about relationship issues of young people, and so honestly and openly. We touched upon so many issues that affect young hearts and minds. Hence, Campus Beats was not considered just another show but something that spoke to young people," Malhotra said.Many would know that while she found a whole new career in the digital space, Palki Malhotra did start her career with television—a medium that once also had exclusive content for young India, from Dil Mill Gayye, Dil Dostii Dance to Remix and Kaisi Yeh Yaariaan. The creative head, however, emphasised that TV today is also losing out on audiences because no one wants to make content for the youth.'There are a few television shows that may not get numbers but do well digitally. But I genuinely feel we've lost the youngsters. The day we stopped catering to their emotions, we lost them. And now they don't want to go back to TV because they feel there's nothing for them. People no longer want to experiment.'advertisementShe added that the change happened after researchers started taking calls rather than creatives. Referring to her time on Dil Mill Gayye and Miley Jab Hum Tum, Palki mentioned that they would not have managed to do half of the things they did on the show if they 'cared' about the outcome.'Hindi television is a very fearful platform. There are so many platforms, sponsorships, ad revenues, and brands involved. The money is not as much as it used to be. So, I understand they feel they need to be safe. But amid so many safe projects, we can at least have one show that experiments. Also, times have changed, but the quest to find true love, old-school style, continues to be there,' Palki Malhotra concluded.Campus Beats is streaming on Amazon MX Player.