If you’re in Goa, its not difficult to miss the Portuguese connection with the Goan people (famous Portuguese explorer ‘Vasco da Gama’ was the first European to reach India by sea). Star footballer ‘Cristiano Ronaldo’ may not be the most revered footballer in India, but he’s definitely popular and people here know that he’s from Portugal.
And now Portugal also seems to have caught the attention of Indian filmmakers. An important aspect of film-making is to bring untouched locations around the world to the audience. Portugal presents such opportunities to Indian filmmakers.
Films Shot in Portugal
It all started with Ravi Teja and Shruti Haasan’s Telugu film ‘Balupu’, where few song sequences were shot in Portugal.
One of the songs from ‘Balupu’, shot in beautiful Lisbon and Lagos.
Now, Bengali film ‘Bachchan’ (remake of the Kannada film Vishnuvardhana) will have a few songs that will be shot against the backdrop of Lisbon, Porto, Algarve, Aveiro and Ericira, in Portugal.
When it comes to shooting abroad, although the UK might still be the popular choice for Bollywood and other industry filmmakers, Bollywood productions will surely be watching this space and will most likely follow suit.
Governments Keen On Improving Ties
The two governments want to see greater interaction in the field of cinema, which indirectly will also give Lisbon an opportunity to attract more Indian tourists.
Currently, the people to people contacts have been more or less restricted to Goa where the Portuguese had a presence till the middle of the 20th century.
Lusophone Film Festival
The Lusophone film festival is a part of the Semana da Cultura Indo-Portuguese initiative, which aims at strengthening cultural ties between the two countries. The festival was recently held in Goa and featured films from the Portuguese-speaking world, which includes countries like Brazil, Portugal, Mozambique, Angola, Cape Verde and several other smaller Luso-inspired countries.
Portugal’s Consul General for Goa ‘Rui Carvalho Baceira’, who was in Goa, said that he wished that a Bollywood movie like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (ZNMD) was shot in Portugal as it would really bolster the economies of both India and Portugal. “If a similar thing could happen for Portugal, people from India will want to come and visit (Portugal). Goods will be exchanged,” he added.
Very few films get made in Portugal as Investors there are not very keen to invest their money in making films, which is why the Portugal audiences prefer to watch movies made and produced in Brazil, as its language is very close to Portuguese. Like Goa, even the South American economic giant was formerly a Portuguese colony and has a robust film industry.
