Indian Actress Anushka Sen to Make Her Korean Debut

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did,” said Mark Twain. “So, throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover,” he added, which is precisely what Anushka Sen, a 19-year-old Indian actress, seems to be doing right now. The Khatron Ke Khiladi 11 contestant is spending time in South Korea to make her breakthrough in that country’s entertainment industry, following her collaboration with Asia Lab, a South Korean entertainment brand dedicated to gathering Asian actors under one roof.

After Anupam Tripathi’s incredible success as Abdul Ali, alongside the headliners in Netflix‘s mega-hit Squid Game, K-content fans in India were already excited. In addition, the inclusion of Odisha’s Sriya Lenka in the South Korean group Blackswan made the prospect of Indians working in the Korean media look more conducive. Expectations have skyrocketed further with Sen’s entrance into the K-universe. She began her acting career as a child artist in the Zee TV series Yahaan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli (2009) and has since risen to stardom. Her ascent to prominence came with the 2019 series Khoob Ladi Mardaani – Jhansi Ki Rani as Manikarnika Rao aka Rani Lakshmi Bai.

In her most recent interview with Korea Now, the actress admits that her interest in K-dramas stems from her desire to learn more about other industries. Thus, after nearly 10 years of working in India and on a diverse range of other initiatives, Sen is venturing into the Korean entertainment industry to try something new. The passionate Lee Minho fan added that at a time when she was binge-watching an increasing number of K-dramas, Asia Lab approached her and signed her up for their upcoming Korean movies and projects, beginning with God of Travel – a travel show slated to release on June 30th.

The social media-savvy star, who has over 37 million Instagram followers, has been documenting her travels throughout South Korea ever since, and added that she does so to offer her fans a flavor of the country and its fascinating culture. 

She disclosed that the lockdown period sparked the urge in her to watch K-dramas and she fell in love with them right away, while also hoping to visit South Korea someday. She is overjoyed to be able to live her dreams now that she has arrived in that country for real. “When I came here and started experiencing it, I was like, ‘I’m in a K-drama, oh my God!’”

Sen didn’t go into detail about the projects she’s working on, but she did say that the nicest part about her partnership with Asia Lab is that it’s a futuristic collaboration – not just between her and the company, but also between India and Korea. She’s currently savoring every moment – exploring new places, engaging with natives, eating Korean food, and learning the language. However, she feels that “working in Korea is a big challenge in itself” due to the language barrier, differences in content, and the place of course, which is so different from India. Finally, the actor expressed that her ultimate goal is to play a wide range of characters and genres while also connecting with Korean fans as a human being rather than as just a famous person from India. “I really want the people in Korea to get to know me as a human being first and then, of course, see my craft as an actor.”