‘Gangnam Style’ is all the rage but Bollywood isn’t fazed: ‘We do this in every film’

South Korean singer Psy performs his hit ‘Gangnam Style’ live. Submitted photo

New Delhi, Oct 9 (IANS) After going viral on YouTube with over four billion hits and entering the Guinness World Records, Gangnam style dance steps have became the rage. The latest to copy it was the West Indies cricket team and Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic.

The team’s recent win at the Twenty20 World Cup and Djokovic lifting the Beijing Open title proved a victory in disguise for South Korea’s Gangnam style – a peppy number with quirky dance moves, which is making waves the world over.

“It’s a rage, like every new fad,” says popular choreographer Shiamak Davar and added: “Personally, I think it is cute and funny.”

“Gangnam Style”, a song by South Korean rapper Psy, skyrocketed to the top of the nation’s music charts soon after its release in July and went viral online, garnering over 400,000,000 YouTube views in October.

On Sep 20, it made the Guinness World Records for being the most liked video in YouTube history.

The West Indies cricket team, including Chris Gayle and Darren Sammy, added a punch to its popularity when they chose to groove the Gangnam way for a victory dance after they lifted their maiden World Twenty20 trophy.

This has brought the Gangnam style back in discussions – online and on the street.

Ayush Gupta, founder, Cabbageheads, the group that popularised the flash mob trend in the capital in 2011, feels India is a little slow when it comes to taking updates from the world.

“The Gangnam video is as old as July. But that’s just a ripple effect of any viral video. In India, a place where cricket is considered religion, seeing West Indies players do ‘Gangnam’ is more than enough for people to get crazy over the song.

Plus, the music’s pretty catchy,” Gupta told IANS.

The dance is a tad awkward and comical, but that’s what adds the fun!

Divya Manhas, a music and dance enthusiast, says the number has earned its fair share of popularity due to the “fun element involved in its dancing”.

“It’s caught the attention of everyone – from a kid to an elder. The Korean man is cute, and the way he dances and sings, brings a unique edge to the song. The satirical element on Gangnam (Gangnam district of Seoul) is brought out well – a mix of humour and relevance,” said the 25-year-old, reflecting the thoughts of many her age, on the song.

The style, however, will only last as long as each trend, say experts.

“It has become popular like ‘Kolaveri di’ and it will fade out like ‘Kolaveri di’,” quipped choreographer Pony Verma.

Elucidating further, she said: “I love ‘Kolaveri di’. But just like the song was tried in a very different way and it just clicked with people, this is a new ‘Kolaveri’ for us. As a choreographer, I think somebody has just joked with one kind of step.”

Davar said that Bollywood produced such trendy steps every now and then.

“I feel they need (for people) to learn from us (Bollywood), the real jhatkas-matkas, funky latest Bollywood styles, which are so iconic all the time. They have one ‘Gangnam Style’. We do this in every film,” he said pointing at the gamut of song and dance extravaganzas that Bollywood boasts of.

IANS 2012-10-09 19:18:52