December 2021
December 2021
Korean kids games are gaining popularity as a result of the hit Netflix series ¡°Squid Game.¡± The game Red Light, Green Light is growing popular around the world, while tutorial videos on making the Korean sweet dalgona are gaining popularity on YouTube. KOREA Magazine talked with the actor Anupam Tripathi, who appeared in ¡°Squid Game¡± and has since become an ambassador of Korea¡¯s culture of play.
Written by
Yu Pureum
Photo courtesy of
B&C Content
© shutterstock(left) © Netflix(right)
Anupam Tripathi landed in Korea from India in 2010 to pursue his passion of becoming an actor. He studied acting at the Korea National University of Arts and has been acquiring knowledge and experience through plays, movies and dramas. In 2021, he had a turning point in his career as an actor.
¡°I was called for an audition in February 2020 by a casting agency,¡± Anupam recalled. ¡°The audition was very challenging—director Hwang provided various scenarios to test my skills. He then asked if I would be able to emulate the emotion which Ali has to do at the end of his acting in ¡®Squid Game.¡¯ It was amazing to audition, and to meet director Hwang that day.¡±
Good news followed a few weeks after the audition. ¡°A few weeks later I received a call, in which I was told that I had been selected to play Ali Abdul, an immigrant worker from Pakistan,¡± he said. The scenario he received was very fresh and interesting. ¡°Then I was given the script to read through. And as I read through, I began to understand what the role was about and what I had to do to prepare for it. The title ¡®Squid Game¡¯ got me curious as it sounded like a children¡¯s game. Yet it was the game that puts you between life and death,¡± he said.
Anupam dedicated himself to becoming Ali by reading scenarios over and over to analyze the character. ¡°The character ¡®Ali¡¯ required a good physique. So I worked very hard to increase my weight,¡± he said. ¡°Ali is someone new to Korea and thus he has to go with very basic language which I adopted by observing other new foreign friends, while at the same time recalling my own experience, reading articles, watching documentaries on YouTube and meeting laborers to understand their mind. This character was worth everything.¡±
Anupam¡¯s character is about to play marbles in the hit Netflix series ¡°Squid Game.¡± © Netflix
The character Ali grew enormously popular thanks to these efforts. Anupam predicted the following as to why the Ali persona received so much love. ¡°The character Ali resonates with everyone I guess, in some way. We all want to believe and trust someone. So it was easy for everyone to feel the character,¡± he said.
Anupam has been thoroughly wowing fans all over the world as Ali. His future is even brighter because he is ready with a high level of competitiveness and passion for acting. ¡°I speak Hindi, English and Korean fluently and I am trying these platforms and markets to establish myself. I am open to any role that can bring my talent out,¡± he said. ¡°I would want to make everyone and everything involved in molding me into who I am today proud.¡±
ACTOR
ANUPAM TRIPATHI
Q. Which game in ¡°Squid Game¡± caught your interest the most and why?
My favorite game is tug-of-war. It emphasizes good teamwork. Remember the tip to play this game was taught by old Ilnam (another character in the series), based on his experience? We can also see how everyone¡¯s character traits are put together to win. It strongly puts forth the idea that we should not give up, no matter what. It is applicable in real life, too. Different people, different goals, different conflicts, yet they come together to win the game as one team with everything they have.
Q. As you mentioned, the games distinguish between life and death and unveil various aspects of each character in ¡°Squid Game.¡± Which game do you consider best revealed these characteristics?
It was the marble game, in episode 6, where the characters have to play the game in pairs. It was the scene where everyone showed their real emotions. We certainly thought we were going to be partners until the game turned us into each other¡¯s opponent. The shock was tremendous. And even during the shock where Ali has to eliminate his partner to survive, he trusts Sangwoo until the last minute of his life. I had to carefully portray this emotion of what it is to trust someone even in an extreme situation, with an innocent and naive nature which eventually gets him cheated and fails him miserably. I had to portray this very clearly. It was very challenging psychologically. It was a tough scene for me to do. I can say I felt no energy at all after doing that scene. That shows how challenging it had been. The second he realized that he¡¯d been betrayed, I had to show the feeling of taking in the failure and despair, facing death because of trusting someone.
Q. You recently went to the Korean Folk Village with several friends and played dalgona and ddakjichigi. What was it like to play as yourself, Anupam, instead of Ali?
Games and sports celebrate our lives. We may have different opinions on everything, but when it comes to games and sports, we feel the joy of childhood and become one. That is the power of games and sports. On the set, I am Ali. And outside the set, I am Anupam. Two different characters, two different situations, two different personalities. As Anupam, I enjoy sports and games to the max. There is none of the pressure of life and death that Ali has to face in ¡°Squid Game.¡± At Korean Folk Village, I played Korean traditional games with children and friends. It was super fun to celebrate the joy of being together. In ¡°Squid Game,¡± Ali believed they could still win till he met his end after trusting someone he considered family. However, in real life sports, the joy of being together is the core.
Playgrounds have transitioned from alleys to sports fields, and then from sports fields to the internet. The metaverse is gaining popularity as a new playground for the MZ generation. How did it become a new playground, and what kind of culture of play is forming within the metaverse?
Written by
Seong Hyekyung
Photos courtesy of
NAVERZ
© shutterstock(right)
You can¡¯t talk about play without mentioning a playground. A playground is a place where people gather with the specific aim of ¡°playing.¡± It¡¯s a location where the preceding generation¡¯s culture of play lives on, while a new culture of play emerges as people engage and play with one another. In the metaverse, the same thing is happening right now.
Everyone may have fantasized about becoming an astronaut or going on an expedition into the jungle as a child. The metaverse is a manifestation of this kind of creativity. ZEPETO, Asia¡¯s largest metaverse platform, is no exception. ¡°ZEPETO was born with the purpose of creating a virtual world platform where anyone can create anything they dreamed of,¡± said Kim Daewook, CEO of NAVERZ, the company that built the platform.
ZEPETO allows users to easily realize imaginary worlds, in line with its founding goal. ¡°Anyone can create a virtual space called a ¡®World¡¯ where avatars can meet and play utilizing the ¡®Build It¡¯ function,¡± Kim said.
ZEPETO updates numerous Worlds on a daily basis. ZEPETO created some Worlds, but the majority are generated by users. There are various Worlds available such as a World where you can enjoy games and another where real-life locations such as the Hangang riverside and amusement parks are relocated to the virtual world.
These created Worlds become playgrounds. Users gather in the World to connect and play with one another, and endless cultures of play emerge. What¡¯s interesting is that ZEPETO¡¯s culture of play continues beyond enjoying content provided by ZEPETO.
By using ZEPETO¡¯s functions, users are creating new cultures of play on their own, including parties and instant pickup games.
ZEPETO avatars are also used to create content such as web series and webtoons. The number of views for a popular web series might exceed 500,000. For the Z Generation, who grew up with videos and role-playing, this type of secondary creation is becoming a new trend.
The video booth scene of "Wise Chuseok." © Korean Craft & Design Foundation (left)
Users play in "Hangang Riverside World." © Eunchae (right)
ZEPETO is becoming a new playground for people from all around the world. Kim explained, ¡°The largest metaverse platform in Asia is ZEPETO. There are currently 250 million members, with 90% of them being non-Koreans. As a result, we¡¯re continuing to work on avatars and materials so that people from different cultures can enjoy the same space. We continue to add a variety of skin tones, eyes, hair colors and body shapes, for example.¡±
¡°The metaverse has the advantage of allowing you to do things that you can¡¯t do in real life without time and space limits. By combining our own unique content with the metaverse¡¯s benefits, we are certain that ZEPETO will become a gathering place where people from all over the world play in one space in the future,¡± Kim said.
CEO OF NAVERZ
KIM DAEWOOK
Q. What are current trends in play, and how do they affect ZEPETO?
I suppose ¡°role play¡± is the most important play buzzword for the MZ generation. We provide a wide range of materials and settings so that the MZ generation, who are familiar with ¡°sub-characters,¡± can enjoy a variety of situational scenarios. ¡°Build It,¡± as noted before, and ¡°ZEPETO Studio,¡± where users can create their own goods, are two examples. In the instance of ¡°ZEPETO Studio,¡± we provide item templates that can be used without professional design skills.
Q. What are the most distinguishing features of ZEPETO¡¯s new culture of play?
It is ZEPETO users¡¯ distinct practice to use ZEPETO to produce their own secondary creations. With functions like ZEPETO¡¯s photo booth and video booth, you can easily create high-quality content even without special technology or equipment. These secondary creations are shared not only on ZEPETO but also on other social media platforms. The MZ generation, who are trend-conscious and involved in social activities, tend to look for places to use their imagination in ZEPETO.
Q. In ZEPETO, can we enjoy the games we used to play offline?
Sure. Last Chuseok, for example, we introduced a ¡°video booth¡± for ¡°Wise Chuseok¡± in partnership with the Korea Craft & Design Foundation (KCDF), where you can experience many Korean games and activities related to Chuseok. A video booth is a feature that allows you to choose a template and share photos or videos with your avatar. Domestic and international users were able to dress up in Hanbok and make songpyeon (half-moon rice cakes) or play traditional games like tuho (pitch pot) and ganggangsullae (a traditional circle dance) through the Wise Chuseok¡¯s video booth. In the future, we will strive to provide a diverse range of content that everyone can enjoy.
