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Portuguese-speaking actors perform during the filming of the Caminho das Indias (Way of the Indias) telenovela in Rio de Janeiro - Source: Reuters
The pink-walled palaces, shimmering saris and Bollywood dances all scream India.
So why are the actors speaking Portuguese and kissing
passionately?
Welcome to Brazil's latest soap opera hit, a lavish production that
has sparked a mini India boom in Brazil, even while taking
liberties with its portrayal of the Asian giant.
The Caminho das Indias (Way of the Indias) telenovela, with Hindi
phrases thrown into the Portuguese dialogue, has piqued Brazilians'
interest in the emerging economic powerhouse that was little-known
here before.
Hindi phrases such as the exclamation Arre Baba (Oh my goodness!)
have entered everyday speech; interest in yoga, meditation and
Indian dance is on the rise and demand for Indian clothes and
decorations has jumped.
On Rio de Janeiro's beaches, vendors are touting Indian-style
sarongs.
"People like it because it's very energetic and very happy," said
Samra Sanches, an instructor who has started giving Indian dance
classes.
"We try to work on moves similar to those in the novela."
The story, which like most Brazilian soaps, is told in a gruelling
200 or so episodes over more than six months, centres on a
forbidden love between beautiful high-caste woman Maya and handsome
Bahuan, a low-caste Dalit, a group formerly known as
Untouchables.
Filmed partly in India's Rajasthan state, the action flits between
Jaipur and Agra where tradition and religion hang in the air and
the beach-side Rio of micro-bikinis.
"The novela shows the respect in India for the elders of a family,
which isn't always the case in the West," said Tony Ramos, a
60-year-old soap opera idol who plays the conservative head of the
Brahmin Ananda family in the series.
Crossing the line
He spoke between takes at Brazilian entertainment giant Globo's
studios, where several Indian towns have been constructed complete
with Hindi temples and a river Ganges.
Ramos and the other leading actors spent three weeks filming in
India, on top of a two-month course to get them up to speed on
yoga, Indian dance moves and language.
The impact of Caminhos on Brazilians' speech, fashion, and
interests is the latest example of soap operas' powerful social
influence in Latin America's biggest country.
Globo's prime-time novelas, often portraying a wealthy elite in Rio
that is far from the everyday reality of most Brazilians, can grab
more than 40 million viewers a night.
Indian Ambassador to Brazil BS Prakash said his embassy had seen a
jump in phone calls and e-mails from Brazilians curious about
India.
The novela, he said, helped fill a cultural gap between the two
nations that remained wide despite stronger diplomatic relations in
recent years.
"The novela in that sense has opened many doors, many people are
getting to have an impression about India," he said from
Brasilia.
Caminhos has attracted strong ratings and spawned at least one
spin-off program on Indian life.
But the steamy demands of a Brazilian soap opera have inevitably
crossed the line of what would be acceptable in India, where public
or on-screen kissing is still taboo.
Some Indians in Brazil are shocked by the sexual encounters between
Maya and Bahuan, saying Maya would have been expelled by her family
if they had happened in real life.
Some critics also take issue with the portrayal of widespread
discrimination against Dalits and a rigid caste system which they
say is out of date.
But actor Ramos, fresh from a scene in which he goes head-to-head
against a Dalit candidate in an election, defended the portrayal of
the caste system as not so far from reality.
"It's the same when you show the Brazil of slums, or the political
problems - many Brazilians will say my country isn't like that," he
said.
