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There is growing interest in Hindi films among
the students of cinema in Venezuela, writes Shakuntala Rao after a visit to the
Department of Cinema Studies at Caracas university
Universidad del Central Venezuela (UVC) is one of the largest universities in South America with 85,000 students and sits in the heart of Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. The students are cosmopolitan and well connected via Blackberries and Internet and they know quiet a lot about Bollywood, the world’s largest film industry I was recently invited by the Department of Cinema Studies at UVC to give a talk on Bollywood that was attended by more than 100 students and faculty members. It was a pleasant surprise to see a fierce curiosity in the students about Bollywood’s media products, its increasing global presence, and technical prowess. Repeatedly they asked if Bollywood, not Hollywood, was the future leader of world cinema. Part of the growing interest in Bollywood is a direct effect of the dismal situation in which the Venezuelan film industry finds itself. While Venezuela is one of the richest countries in the world when it comes to natural resources (it produces a quarter of the world’s oil), its media environment is almost entirely monopolised by foreign imports, primarily from Hollywood. Watching television in Caracas is like watching television in the US, except it is dubbed in Spanish. The Venezuelan film industry has never produced more than six films a year. In the past, critically acclaimed Venezuelan films such as Elia Schneider’s Punto y Raya, Solveig Hoogesteijn’s Maroa, and Alberto Arvelo’s Una Casa Con Vista al Mar have relied on partners from another country for production costs and distribution. Since 2003, however, the industry has received special attention from the government of President Hugo Chavez.
Chavez came to power in 1999 on an anti-American, anti-imperialist political platform, based on what he called "revolutionary socialism" which has since included, among other changes, the nationalising of Venezuela’s oil industry, overhauling taxation, and the education system. Part of Chavez’s agenda has been to establish a national cinema industry for Venezuela, which promulgates patriotic themes. He has poured millions of dollars into the new Villa-de-Cine, a state-owned studio complex, which includes high-tech equipment and animation facilities. It is no surprise that one of the first major project of Villa de Cine is a film about Venezuela’s national hero, Simon Bolivar, the founder of the country and one whose image Chavez has coopted. According to Ricardo Azuaga, director of the Department of Film Studies at UVC, films coming out of Villa de Cine are "nothing but Chavez’s propaganda." Fernando Rodriguez, past director of Venezuela’s national film archive and a prominent anti-Chavez journalist, says that the content of these government-produced films often reflect the ruling government’s opinions. Romina De Rugeriis, a film scholar, argues that the result of nationalsing the film industry has led to making of films that are only about "gangs, crimes, and poverty." It appears that a socialist revolution does not leave much room for entertainment. Here is the appeal of Bollywood, observes Margarita Gonzalez, who teaches cinematography at UVC, "We need more of Bollywood films that provides for escapism rather than the monotonous bombardment of one-sided patriotic films." As I was leaving, a young student, Isabel, walked up to me and in her stilted English, confessed that she loved watching Salman Khan’s films online. I hope to return to UVC next year to teach a short course on Bollywood. And I plan to bring Isabel a few of Salman Khan’s films.
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