John Beger famously quipped in his seminal 1972 essay, Ways of Seeing, "Men Act, Women Appear. Men Watch. Women watch themselves being watched." Does it still hold true for the Indian entertainment industry in the new millennium? The latest edition of the O Womaniya! report, championed by Prime Video, researched by Ormax Media, and produced by Film Companion Studios, unveils the current state of on-screen and off-screen representation of women in Indian entertainment.
In its 4th edition of the O Womaniya! 2024 report analyzed 169 films across 9 Indian languages (Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu) released in 2023 across streaming and theatrical. Let's dive in and assess further.
Female Voices On-screen Matter: This year the report institutionalized the O Womaniya! Toolkit to measure female representation in content, and also enable filmmakers to apply the toolkit and eliminate biases early on in the content creation cycle. The toolkit checks whether women in a film or series have agency and are drivers of their own stories or are just accessories to driving the male point of view in storytelling. Only 31% of the titles analyzed passed the Toolkit, with streaming series taking the lead with 45% of them passing. Almost half of the analyzed titles fell short on the more traditional Bechdel Test as well.
Female Voices Behind-the-scenes Matter: Only 15% of the HOD positions analyzed across key departments (direction, cinematography, editing, writing, and production design) were held by women. Streaming led here too, with both streaming films and series, both having over 20% of HOD positions helmed by women. While editing was the only department to show noteworthy growth (from 10% female representation in the previous report to 18% in the current), departments like direction and cinematography had negligible growth of mere 1 and 2 percentage points respectively.
Female Voices in Boardrooms Matter: Per the report, the female representation among 144 director/CXO positions analyzed in 25 leading M&E firms is a mere 12%!
Female Voices in Content Promotions Matter: With a 2 percentage point increase since last year, women now have 29% talk time in promotional trailers. But is that enough?
Industry Speaks: Some of the biggest names from the industry got together for a roundtable to discuss the findings of the report and figure possible solutions. Ananya Panday, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Richa Chadha, Shakun Batra, Nikkhil Advani, Ishita Moitra, and Stuti Ramachandra, Director & Head of Production, International Originals, Prime Video, India, sat with Anupama Chopra in a freewheeling conversation.
Watch the full roundtable here:
Stuti Ramachandra remarked, "At Prime Video, we firmly believe that Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is not just good to have -- it is essential to driving meaningful change. We have worked intentionally and persistently to build a diverse, inclusive, and equitable ecosystem, creating more opportunities for women, both in production and within our organization. In a collaborative industry such as ours, the true impact of DEI can only be realized when it is embraced across the board, with each of us committing to fostering an environment where women are seen, heard, and truly valued."
Sharing his thoughts Shailesh Kapoor, Founder & CEO, Ormax Media, said, "With every edition of O Womaniya!, we have looked at expanding the scope of the report. In this year's edition, the introduction of the O Womaniya! Toolkit offers a nuanced perspective on representation of women in entertainment. The toolkit is designed to be action-oriented, and can help creators and producers evaluate new ideas at their end, from an inclusivity perspective."
Sharing her thoughts on the report, film critic Anupama Chopra remarked that "The entertainment industry is under greater scrutiny than ever before. With every step forward and every gap left uncovered, stakeholders are reflecting on how they can drive meaningful change. Every action and conversation around gender inclusivity matters and with the O Womaniya! Report and the newly launched Toolkit, we are moving closer to creating an equitable industry."