Advocating for Equitable Representation of Women in the
Indian Entertainment Industry
Understanding Indian entertainment and its equation with gender equality
This year, we take a macro look at the data from the last four years to analyse the industry-wide trend in the representation of women in the Indian entertainment industry - whether it's on-screen or behind it - including the corporate decision-makers. The last three years have revealed a slow but steady growth in most areas of consideration. The objective of this report is to help identify the gaps, challenges, and opportunities for creating a more gender-balanced and inclusive industry.
Content
Creative Talent | OWomaniya! Toolkit
corporate
Corporate Talent | Company Policies
Marketing
Trailer Talk Time
HINDI | TAMIL | TELUGU | MALAYALAM | KANNADA | OTHER | TOTAL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TOTAL PROPERTIES | 94 | 19 | 24 | 11 | 05 | 06 | 169 |
STREAMING SERIES | 50 | 06 | 05 | 02 | 00 | 05 | 69 |
STREAMING FILMS | 26 | 01 | 02 | 01 | 01 | 00 | 30 |
THEATRICAL FILMS | 18 | 12 | 17 | 08 | 04 | 11 | 70 |
FILMS &
SERIES ANALYSED
THEATRICAL FILMS SELECTED BASED ON FOOTFALLS STREAMING SERIES & FILMS SELECTED BASED ON ORMAX MEDIA’S VIEWERSHIP ESTIMATES PROPERTIES RELEASED IN 2024
FOREWORD
STUTI RAMACHANDRA
Director & Head- Production, International Originals, Prime Video India
2024 will go down in history as the year that saw two female-led films walk away with all the glory at two of the biggest film festivals - Cannes and Sundance! Yet, the reality back home couldn't be more different. While there is visible shift in dynamics, an equitable representation for women in Indian media and entertainment remains a distant dream. The new edition of the O Womaniya! Report further deep dives into female representation in Indian entertainment. It uncovers disparities and pinpoints opportunities for change. It also calls on industry stakeholders to amplify progress and drive transformation across the entertainment landscape. Despite the growing presence of female-led narratives and the positive work of streaming services in championing stories led by women in front of and behind the camera, the gender divide persists in key creative roles. Women remain underrepresented as directors, screenwriters, and producers, limiting the richness of storytelling by narrowing balanced perspectives. Addressing this imbalance is not only about achieving gender parity but unlocking the full potential of Indian entertainment by creating stories that resonate universally. reflect diversity. and inspire change. It is promising to see that female-driven projects and stories, particularly in the video streaming sector, are challenging traditional beliefs about their commercial viability and appeal. These stories are bold, nuanced, and are making a significant impact, both in India and globally, demonstrating that female leadership in creative roles is not just essential but transformative. At Prime Video India, we are proud to collaborate with Ormax Media and Film Companion Studios on this year's edition of O Womaniya!. This initiative reflects our commitment to championing female representation, promoting inclusion, and amplifying voices that have often been unheard. By fostering meaningful conversations about female representation, we aim to inspire actionable change and pave the way for a more equitable future!
The powers that be
Crew, Company, and creative talent
A whole lot of what happens in front of the camera is determined by the decisions made behind it.
When women are put in key decision-making roles, we observe a tangible shift towards more inclusive content, diverse storytelling, and an increasingly varied hiring policy. This much needed change will enable the generation to take command over the narrative, dismantle existing gender norms, and nudge the industry in the direction of equitable gender representation.
To measure the shift created by female representation in decision-making roles, we looked at the number of women in key Head of Department (HOD) positions across our selected 122 properties to understand the lay of the land in 2024.
HOD positions analysed: Direction | Cinematography | Editing | Writing | Production Design
Are women in charge?
FEMALE REPRESENTATION ACROSS HOD POSITIONS
2023 gave us a glimmer of hope with a consistent 3 percentage point growth. But with a 2 percentage point drop in 2024, a first since 2021, this one is still a pipe dream.
Glass half full...or empty?
FEMALE REPRESENTATION BY HOD POSITIONS
2024
*All numbers are in percentage
While the Writing department saw a 2 percentage point growth in HOD representation since 2023, there has been little to no change in representation across the rest. Production Design is the only department to even cross the 20 percentage point mark, while representation in Direction remains unchanged, and Editing and Cinematography have dropped by a sizable 4 and 5 percentage points, respectively.
2024
*All numbers are in percentage
Theatrical
vs
Streaming...
The Saga Continues
FEMALE HOD REPRESENTATION
BY FORMAT /DISTRIBUTION
While the theatrical format continues to lag behind, streaming films and series combined are putting on a much better performance in HOD representation.
Here comes change!
SHARE OF FEMALE COMMISSIONING IN-CHARGE
A significant increase from last year in the share of female commissioning in-charge is heartening to witness. The 11 percentage point increase indicates our hope to see more women take on this role across platforms.
While HOD representation in Hindi is on a consistent upward trajectory, the same cannot be said for other regional languages.
All of them have scored in the lower single digits, with Kannada failing to register a score altogether.
it’s going south
FEMALE HOD REPRESENTATION BY LANGUAGE
2024
*All numbers are in percentage
Women. Hiring. Women.
FEMALE HOD REPRESENTATION BY GENDER OF COMMISSIONING IN-CHARGE
It’s heartening to see that there has been consistent, year-on-year growth in HOD representation with a woman at the helm. Which makes what we need quite evident - more women at the top.
2024
*All numbers are in percentage
Enabling the change we want to see
O Womaniya! Toolkit
As the content landscape evolved, it called for an evolution in how we analyse and solve for gender representation in Indian entertainment. Keeping this in mind, we introduced the O Womaniya! Toolkit in 2024. Today, a few scenes or dialogues do not constitute an equitable representation.
We now look for a well-developed arc, a variety of emotions, and maybe even an actual conflict to address. Instead of looking back at the properties once they have already been made, we created a toolkit that could help writers, creators, or even producers maintain gender diversity in their properties right from the get-go.
Through pointed questions, the O Womaniya! Toolkit helps identify gender representation in a property at the development stage.With the OWomaniya! Toolkit we take a more solution-driven approach for gender equality in the industry. The hope is to identify the disparity at the development stage for properties and take the necessary steps to rectify the imbalance in representation.
To PASS the O Womaniya! Toolkit, a property must reflect a positive response on all four of the following questions. The positive or correct answer for the first three questions is ‘Yes’ while that for the fourth question is ‘No’.
01.
02.
03.
04.
Is there at least one named female character with at least one line of dialogue, who plays a role that’s not romantically or familially connected to the male protagonist?
Does at least one female character play an active role in taking economic, domestic and/or community decisions that are pivotal to the show’s/film’s story?
Is there any point in the story where a female protagonist expresses a conflicting viewpoint to that of a male character, on an issue central to the plot?
Does the show/film portray sexualization of women, and/or violence against women, as normal/acceptable?
Not a pretty picture
We analyzed 115*
properties out of
which only 37
passed the
O Womaniya! Toolkit.
In other words, 1 out of 3 properties successfully passed the test. That is one whole percentage point more than last year. Yay or nay, you decide for yourself.
*excluding non fiction and documentaries
OTT steals the show
O WOMANIYA! TOOLKIT BY FORMAT/ DISTRIBUTION
Once again, theatrical titles are lagging far behind in passing the O Womaniya! Toolkit. The good news - a significant increase in streaming properties that have passed the toolkit!
So Close Yet So Far
O WOMANIYA! TOOLKIT BY LANGUAGE
2024
*All numbers are in percentage
While Hindi-language properties still lead the charts, there has been a more than double increase in Telugu-language properties that have passed the O Womaniya! Toolkit. Not much has changed with the Malayalam, Tamil, and other regional languages properties; however, Kannada has inexplicably experienced a nosedive, with not even one property passing the Toolkit.
Leading From The Front
O WOMANIYA! TOOLKIT BY GENDER OF COMMISSIONING IN-CHARGE
Same as last year, the gap between properties with a female commissioning-in-charge passing the O Womaniya! Toolkit is more than double that of their male counterparts. This is unsurprising as it further cements our observation that while the women in charge have an increasingly inclusive approach, men still need to broaden their viewpoints.
*All numbers are in percentage
2024
The Trailer Talk Time Test
Along with a glimpse into the film or series to generate audience interest, trailers also give us an idea of how well women are represented in this important piece of promotional content. So, in order to gauge the inclusion and relevance of female characters in marketing a property, we perform the Trailer Talk Time Test.
The test is simple - from the main trailer of each property we identified and measured the length of the spoken parts by male and female characters. What we see is the result in percentage of talk time allotted to female characters (including transgender characters) in these trailers.
Same stats, different year
Trailer Talk Time
While 2022 and 2023 saw a consistent increase in female talk time in trailers, the numbers this year remain unchanged at 29 percentage points.
2024
*All numbers are in percentage
For Growth’s Sake
Trailer Talk Time
BY FORMAT / DISTRIBUTION
Change in female trailer talk time has been marginal this year. While talk time for theatrical properties slipped by a couple percentage points, streaming properties, across films and series, make up for it by consistently staying well above the 30% mark.
It’s giving… hope?
TRAILER TALK TIME BY GENDER OF COMMISSIONING IN-CHARGE
*All numbers are in percentage
2024
We see a significant 3 percentage point increase in trailer talk time with a female commissioning in-charge. This has been a sustained growth over the years and is well on its way to hit the 50 percentage point mark.
Follow Kar Lo Yaar 88%
Big Girls Don’t Cry 88%
Do Patti 84%
Crew 83%
Heart Beat 83%
The Tribe 80%
Nach Ga Ghuma 78%
Call Me Bae 70%
Heeramandi 70%
Love Storiyaan 69%
Miss Perfect 68%
Bhakshak 68%
Sookshmadarshini 67%
Dil Dosti Dilemma 63%
CTRL 60%
Girls Will Be Girls 56%
Bloody Ishq 55%
Bibi Rajni 54%
Bandish Bandits S2 54%
Amaran 53%
Ae Watan Mere Watan 52%
1000 Babies 50%
HALL OF FAME
50%+ FEMALE TRAILER TALK TIME
Follow Kar Lo Yaar | Big Girls Don’t Cry | Do Patti | Crew | Heart Beat | The Tribe | Nach Ga Ghuma | Call Me Bae |Heeramandi | Love Storiyaan | Miss Perfect | Bhakshak | Sookshmadarshini | Dil Dosti Dilemma | CTRL | Girls Will Be Girls |
Bloody Ishq | Bibi Rajni | Bandish Bandits S2 | Amaran | Ae Watan Mere Watan | 1000 Babies
Who runs the world?
Corporate Talent | Corporate Policies
Who runs the world?
To understand how deep gender disparity runs in the Indian entertainment industry we analysed 110 Director and CXO positions across 25 top media and entertainment companies.
Representation at the top level is crucial to understand because of the systemic nature of gender equality in the industry. When the table is shared with underrepresented voices and communities, we see a shift in the content we consume, and values we applaud, as a society. This is also a good marker for the amount of opportunities the industry provides to those whose stories and voices need to be heard for change to take place. Because when real change begins at the top, the trickle-down effect will be much more evident and impactful.
What real growth looks like
FEMALE REPRESENTATION IN SENIOR MANAGEMENT
The last year saw a steady rise in female representation at the top with an increase of 6 percentage points
Now we’re talking!
ACCESS TO POLICIES IN PUBLIC DOMAIN (WEBSITE/ BLOGS/ ANNUAL REPORTS
2024 saw some sustained growth in access to gender positive corporate policies. The Anti-sexual harassment policy has been the most constant, while policies on proactive recruitment and equal pay have to be focused upon more actively.
While access to the gender and diversity policy has taken a dip, the hope is to see a revival in the following year.
Roundtable Conference
For O Womaniya! 2025, we invited various artists from different walks of filmmaking for a roundtable. We wanted to get from them concrete suggestions that would spur tangible change to shift the needle for representation of women in film. We also wanted to highlight gender biases they have noticed/experienced around them while breaking into the industry and how they conquered it.
Here’s a notable conversation between some of the country’s finest filmmakers, actors, studio heads and writers pouring their hearts out on how we can make cinema more inclusive.
MEET THE PARTNERS
Prime Video
Prime Video is a premium streaming service that offers a collection of award-winning Amazon Original Series, thousands of movies and television shows. Amazon’s Prime Video have always believed in equitable representation, not just within Prime Video and in their content, but also within the wider creative industry. By nurturing and empowering talented women within the industry, they aim to create a ripple effect of positive change in the entertainment ecosystem.
Film Companion Studios
Film Companion Studios takes ahead the legacy of Film Companion by venturing into long-form storytelling by producing credible documentaries on all things film and creating opportunities for others in the film Industry. With a focus on impact driven initiatives like OWomaniya!, FC Studios is set to bring change by curating initiatives that best aid, guide and enable the creative endeavours of new age filmmakers.
Ormax Media
Ormax Media is a media research and consultancy firm that helps the Indian media & entertainment industry to use consumer insights and data analytics to create businesses, shows, films and campaigns that are both consumer-centric and profitable. Ormax Media analyses, records and tabulates women’s representation in front of and behind the camera for the OWomaniya! Report, through their assessment metrics, with the hope that year-on-year the tangible numbers inform change that make the entertainment industry more equitable.
END CREDITS
This report is the result of the tireless efforts of several teams from conception to execution. We would like to acknowledge the contribution of each member of the O Womaniya! Project.
In time, we hope this study will help move the needle of representation in Indian cinema, creating meaningful protagonists and inclusive platforms for women long hidden in the shadows.
VIEW PREVIOUS REPORTS
Copywriting and Design
Independent Creators Co.
PRIME VIDEO INDIA
Ananta Das
Anshul Raj
FILM COMPANION
STUDIOS
Anupama Chopra
Megha Mathur
Megha Srinivasan
ORMAX MEDIA
Shailesh Kapoor
Keerat Grewal
Amit Bhatia
Abhinav Chandekar
Vikas Johri
Shreya Ramakrishnan
Aakriti Bhatia
Nabil Shaikh
Dilip Hadawale
Nirankar Kudalkar
Sidaq Batra
Riddhesh Sadariwala
Mahikaa Chhibber
Dvija Mandava
Rohan Babu
Swayam Kumar
Nandini Agrawal
Visakh Roji
Vidit Singh
Keerti Maheshwari
Tarukh Kaul
Pranav Saraswatula
Sakshi Saxena
Soumya Vats