Thaindian News

Almaty, May 20 (IANS) ‘Passage to India’, a Brazilian-Indian soap that has successfully brought India into the living rooms of a large numbers of Brazilian homes for close to a year now debuted Thursday on the premier Kazakh entertainment TV Channel 31.
The soap, or novella, as it is called in Brazil, is titled “Caminho das Indias” in the original Portuguese. It is a 50-50 mix between India and Brazil with beautiful Brazilian girls falling head over heels in love with Indians and vice-versa, leading to complicated love triangles and hilarious situations in the two countries.

The roles are performed by popular Brazilian stars, with the story being recounted in Portuguese and with a liberal sprinkling of colloquial Hindi phrases.

The Indian embassy in capital Astana worked with Channel 31 to bring the serial to Kazakhstan. It will be telecast on prime time every working day in Russian and rebroadcast the next morning in the Kazakh language.

Speaking at the inaugural launch ceremony, Indian Ambassador Ashok Sajjanhar said the decision by a commercial channel to bring the soap to Kazakhstan was evidence of the growing and vibrant relations between the two countries.

Referring to the keen interest amongst the people of Kazakhstan in Indian dance, music, culture, films, food, customs and traditions, he recalled the grand gala concerts organised by the Embassy in Almaty and Astana in November 2009 which were so popular that hundreds of viewers had to go back disappointed as they were not able to get admission to the auditorium.

The embassy will continue to organise and bring new programmes to showcase both classical and mainstream contemporary Indian culture to the people of Kazakhstan, Sajjanhar added.

He said that although several instances and portrayals in the soap might be clichéd, stereotyped or somewhat inaccurate, they will go a significant way in raising curiosity and interest of the people of Kazakhstan to know more about developments and evolution of the Indian society.

Sajjanhar said that the embassy would shortly establish an India-Kazakhstan Cultural and Humanitarian Forum to promote greater understanding and appreciation of each other’s heritage and legacy between the peoples of the two countries.

The budget of the soap has exceeded $50 million. It has run successfully in Brazil for about a year and is now all set to take over the minds and thoughts of people in Kazakhstan.

The soap has been filmed in Rio de Janeiro and Dubai, as well as in Jaipur and Mumbai and won an Emmy Award in 2009.

“The telecast of this serial will go a significant way in further promoting understanding and cooperation and strengthening relations between India and Kazakhstan,” an embassy statement said.