From Brazil to the World! Discover the Best-Selling Brazilian Soap Operas Abroad

If you turn on the TV in the afternoon, you'll find reruns of Caminho das Índias (a 2009 plot by Glória Perez) on Rede Globo; Prova de Amor (2005 by Tiago Santiago) and Dona Xepa (2013 by Gustavo Reiz) on Record; and, re-aired for the third time on SBT, the tireless Pérola Negra (1998 by Enrique Torres, Henrique Zambelli, and Crayton Sarzy).

Between late afternoon and early evening, there's the 23rd season of the teen series Malhação ** Seu Lugar no Mundo** (Emanoel Jacobina), followed by the love story that transcends centuries in Além do Tempo (Elizabeth Jhin). To round out the "Plim! Plim!" crew, there's also the romantic I Love Paraisópolis (Alcides Nogueira and Mário Teixeira), the battle between good and evil in A Regra do Jogo (João Emanuel Carneiro), and the Brazilian version of Fifty Shades of Grey, Verdades Secretas (Walcyr Carrasco).

Among the current dramas, the biblical soap opera Os Dez Mandamentos (Vívian de Oliveira) from Record is considered the network's biggest hit since Vidas em Jogo (2012 by Cristianne Fridman). On the channel where El Chavo reigns, children's telenovelas dominate the night programming with Cúmplices de um Resgate (2015) and Carrossel (2012), both adapted by Íris Abravanel.

Today, TV offers a rich menu of options for those who enjoy a good soap opera. In total, between reruns and new productions, we have 12 national works. Of these, only Caminho das Índias is among the most broadcasted dramas in other countries. Will the others one day achieve this milestone?

Check out the best-selling soap operas abroad below:

11. Laços de Família (Family Ties)

In 2015, Laços de Família celebrated its 15th anniversary. Want an example of how Manoel Carlos's soap opera made history? I doubt that if you hear "Love by Grace" by Lara Fabian, you won't be transported back to the scene where Camila (Carolina Dieckmann) shaves her head, cries, and moves everyone around her, in the character's battle against leukemia. Before that, at 45, Helena (Vera Fischer) falls in love with Cadu (Reynaldo Gianecchini), a 25-year-old. Amidst great dilemmas, Camila also develops feelings for the young man, and the two soon get together, much to the chagrin of Íris (Deborah Secco), who begins to torment Helena's daughter and call her "Judas." The drama of Capitu (Giovanna Antonelli), Danilo's (Alexandre Borges) philandering, the stubborn Pedro (José Mayer), the impossible Clara (Regiane Alves), and the literary Miguel (Tony Ramos) made Laços de Família an unforgettable soap opera, so much so that it was sold to 66 countries.

10. Mulheres de Areia (Sand Women)

The twins Ruth (good) and Raquel (evil) further cemented Glória Pires's work as the interpreter of the characters. Raquel pretends to be her sister and wins Marcos's (Guilherme Fontes) heart. Tonho da Lua (Marcos Frota) discovers the deception, but because he has a mental illness, he is tormented by the villain, who threatens and frightens him. A twist occurs when the evil twin suffers an accident at sea and is presumed dead. Ruth takes her place alongside Marcos but has no idea that her sister is still alive and thirsty for revenge. Written by the talented Ivani Ribeiro, the plot has been broadcast in 63 countries.

9. Insensato Coração (Reckless Heart)

Once again, Glória Pires stole the show as the villain Norma. In the beginning, the character was a quiet, simple woman who worked as a nurse. After being humiliated and deceived by the con artist Leo (Gabriel Braga Nunes), she is wrongly imprisoned and vows to make him pay for everything he did. On the other side of the story, Pedro (Eriberto Leão) is a pilot who falls in love with Marina (Paolla Oliveira) — without knowing she is his fiancée Luciana's (Fernanda Machado) best friend. Due to a scheme by Leo, the pilot's brother, Pedro is involved in a plane crash in which his fiancée dies. Besides becoming paraplegic, the young man loses Marina to his rival and is also blamed for Luciana's death. The work signed by authors Gilberto Braga and Ricardo Linhares in 2011 has already been purchased by 68 countries.

8. Por Amor (For Love)

Of the three Helenas played by Regina Duarte, the one in Por Amor was the most striking. In several interviews, the actress admitted to still thinking about what the character did in 1997. Don't remember? Pregnant at the same time as her daughter, Helena and Maria Eduarda (Gabriela Duarte) give birth on the same night. Duda's baby is stillborn, so, with the help of doctor César (Marcelo Serrado), the matriarch swaps the living child for the other. After this scene, the family drama of Por Amor was never the same. Helena, Atílio (Antônio Fagundes), Marcelo (Fábio Assunção), and Eduarda can attest to that. Manoel Carlos's telenovela is considered a classic by the author and has been broadcast in 70 countries.

7. Escrava Isaura (The Slave Isaura)

Germany, Indonesia, Latvia, Russia, Turkey, China, Portugal, and New Zealand were some of the 80 countries to which the soap opera has been exported. In Cuba, the government even canceled energy rationing during the broadcast of Gilberto Braga's drama. The 1977 plot is an adaptation of Bernardo Guimarães's novel A Escrava Isaura, which portrays the story of Isaura (Lucélia Santos), an educated, noble white slave and victim of a unscrupulous man, the merciless Leôncio (Rubens de Falco).

6. Caminho das Índias (India – A Love Story)

The comings and goings from India marked the year 2009. On one side of the world, in Rajasthan, we had young Maya (Juliana Paes), a woman who falls in love with the dalit (untouchable) Bahuan (Márcio Garcia) and marries Raj (Rodrigo Lombardi) while pregnant with Bahuan's child. With confused feelings, Maya and Raj take time to accept what each awakens in the other. In Brazil, the Cadore family has to deal with the psychopath Yvone (Letícia Sabatella), who cons Raul (Alexandre Borges) and takes the money and husband of her best friend, Silvia (Débora Bloch). The villain's mistake is when she crosses paths with Melissa Cadore (Christiane Torloni) and becomes the lover of Ramiro (Humberto Martins), the socialite's husband. The plot was so praised that it won the International Emmy in 2009 in the Best Telenovela category. Furthermore, it is one of Globo's best-selling dramas (90 countries have already broadcast Glória Perez's work).

5. O Clone (The Clone)

Between 2001 and 2002, O Clone caused a stir by addressing human cloning. Diogo and Lucas (Murilo Benício) were twin brothers, but the former was preferred by their father Leônidas (Reginaldo Faria) and godfather Albieri (Juca de Oliveira). With Diogo's death in a helicopter accident, Albieri takes advantage of Lucas's visit to the doctor to remove a mole and secretly decides to save the cells to clone the young man and bring his beloved godson back. By artificially inseminating Deusa (Adriana Lessa), the woman gives birth to Léo (Murilo Benício), thus becoming the first human clone in history. In the romantic part of the soap opera, Jade (Giovanna Antonelli) and Lucas fall in love in Morocco. Amidst various vows of love, the two surrender in the ruins, but fate soon separates them. Fearing exclusion from her family for committing several sins against their religion, she is forced to marry Said (Dalton Vigh), with whom she has a daughter, Khadija (Carla Diaz). Time passes, and the plots intertwine in a way that the past is never forgotten. A success in Brazil, O Clone, by Glória Perez, marked generations by being sold to 91 countries.

4. Terra Nostra (Our Land)

Giuliana (Ana Paula Arósio) and Matteo (Thiago Lacerda) met on the same ship bound for Brazil. During the Italian immigration era, between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Europeans came to work on coffee plantations seeking better living conditions. During the voyage, the protagonist couple falls in love and has a torrid night of passion. With vows of marriage and promises of a life together, they didn't expect to lose each other upon the ship's arrival at the Port of Santos. Each went their separate way and married someone else. However, Giuliana didn't expect to be pregnant with Matteo's child. Nevertheless, she marries Marco Antônio (Marcello Antony) and has the child. The problem is that during childbirth, the Italian woman faints, and her child is taken to an orphanage with the excuse that he was stillborn. Broadcast in over 95 countries, Benedito Ruy Barbosa's soap opera marked the transition from the late 90s to the early 2000s in Globo's prime time.

3. A Vida da Gente (The Life We Live)

In 2001, Lícia Manzo and Marcos Bernstein didn't just write a soap opera; they paid homage to life itself. Ana (Fernanda Vasconcellos) was Eva's (Ana Beatriz Nogueira) favorite daughter. After getting involved in a forbidden love with Rodrigo (Rafael Cardoso), her foster brother, Ana suffers an accident and spends four years in a coma, with a baby daughter to raise. Manuela (Marjorie Estiano), also Eva's daughter and rejected by her mother, begins to care for Júlia (Jesueala Moro), her niece-daughter, along with Rodrigo. During a time jump, the two fall in love and start raising the little girl. But as life always surprises, Ana wakes up, and a love triangle forms until everyone understands their true feelings. With exquisite dialogues and a different perspective to portray family values, A Vida da Gente was sold to 98 countries.

2. Da Cor do Pecado (Shades of Sin)

"That brown, fragrant, and delicious body you have. A slender body, the color of sin that feels so good." In 2004, it was hard to watch João Emanuel Carneiro's drama and not hum the theme song, sung by Luciana Mello. Beyond that, Paco (Reynaldo Gianecchini) and Preta (Taís Araújo) lived a love above all prejudice. A fake death, the disappearance of Apolo — Paco's twin brother — the Sardinha family, the millionaire Afonso (Lima Duarte), and the beautiful, blonde villain Bárbara Campos Sodré (Giovanna Antonelli) made Da Cor do Pecado a huge success. The plot has been sold to about 100 countries.

Credit: Archive/TV Globo. Actors Reynaldo Gianecchini and Taís Araujo in a scene from the soap opera Da cor do pecado.

1. Avenida Brasil (Brazil Avenue)

The clash between Nina (Débora Falabella) and Carminha (Adriana Esteves) made Brazil stop in front of the TV. Who doesn't remember the scene of the story's heroine being buried alive or the character's return to Tufão's (Murilo Benício) mansion, which marked the turning point of the soap opera? Carmem Lúcia began to "eat the bread Nina kneaded" (a Brazilian idiom meaning to suffer greatly due to someone else's actions), and from the hundredth chapter onwards, the plot was "fireworks, punches, and bombs," as Zezé (Cacau Protásio) would have said. Also written by João Emanuel Carneiro, Avenida Brasil aired in 2012 and holds the top spot on the list of best-selling soap operas abroad. In total, 134 countries have already purchased the drama.