They may have not come to perform in India yet, but the hold that BTS has over Indian fans is unparalleled. Earlier this month, the Korean K-Pop sensation’s cinema broadcast event, ‘BTS’ Permission to Dance on Stage’ live viewing of Seoul stadium concert released to 3,711 cinemas in 75 countries/regions. Reportedly, the concert received 1.4 million viewers across the world.
In India, the BTS concert – featuring a performance that included 20 songs from the band’s repertoire – sold 18,148 tickets, collecting an impressive Rs 1.6 crore at the box office. The revenue collected is notable considering the concert received box office competition in the form of films such as ‘The Kashmir Files’, ‘The Batman’ and ‘Gangubai Kathiawadi’.
Ticket prices ranged from Rs 500 to Rs 2,000. Kamal Gianchandani — CEO of PVR Pictures Ltd and Chief of Strategy at PVR Limited — told News18, that the cinemas running the Permission To Dance On Stage – Seoul concert, enjoyed 90 percent occupancy across cities.
Globally, according to Variety, the ‘BTS Permission to Dance on Stage: Seoul’ concert collected a staggering $32.6 million in worlwide box office collections.
The box office success of the band’s concert is testament to the country’s love for BTS and K-Pop. According to a study by Twitter, India ranked 10th position on the chart depicting the countries engaging in Kpop content. Even the hashtag, #BTS became the top 10 tweeted hashtags of 2021 in India. They beat Lata Mangeshkar and A.R Rahman to become the most tweeted about music artist in the country at the time too.
Last year, BTS dominated almost all of India’s streaming DSP’s top streamed lists. When the Indian Music Industry (IMI) released the first-ever Top 20 Singles Chart India last year, the South Korean superstars claimed the first-ever No. 1 spot with their single ‘Butter’ and became a huge streaming success.
