Anushka Sen cast as first Indian to play lead role in a Korean movie
- By Sarah Brohi -
- Jun 24, 2026
Anushka Sen made her historical debut at a young age. She lands the lead role in a South Korean film as the first Indian actor.
In the recent news, Jeju Olle, her upcoming romantic musical drama, stars Sen as Alisha, a singer who arrives on Jeju Island grieving the loss of her sister, and finds an unexpected connection with a singer-songwriter named Sunwoo, played by Kang Hyung-seok.
Sen also noted that she shares a last name with her character in the film, adding that this detail made the film doubly special for her. The film, directed by Jin Kwang-Kyo and produced by Lucifer Productions and Celebridge, also stars Ha Ju-Young. This is also Sen’s first commercial film and her first acting project performed largely in English. Shot across Jeju Island, the production is trilingual, with dialogue majorly in English and Korean, and some portions in Hindi. The film is currently being planned for release across India, Korea, and several markets across Asia and the Middle East.
Speaking to THR India days after wrapping the shoot, Sen reflects on her three-year association with South Korea, learning experiences from the Korean filmmaking system, and why international projects are often harder than they look.
This journey started three years ago, when I was appointed the honorary ambassador for Korea Tourism. That was a huge honour because I always wanted to be the bridge between Korea and India.
With Jeju Olle, this becomes more historic and more prominent because this is a romantic musical. When I started watching K-dramas during COVID, I always wanted all my K-Drama wishes fulfilled. I wanted to star in a movie like that.
Everything that I experienced here is going to stay with me. For the first time, everybody on set was Korean, so there were language barriers too. But I realised that when it comes to art, it doesn’t matter where you’re from, or what language you speak, because everybody was so passionate and working hard to make this project happen.
I’m singing, dancing, performing, and acting in this movie. As an artist, I think this was a beautiful opportunity because I got to work on these three different skills.