O Womaniya! Report Reveals Realities Of Female Representation In Indian Entertainment Industry

We're ready to talk about female representation in the entertainment industry with solid data from O Womaniya! Report, are you?

India’s most loved video streaming service, Prime Video, in collaboration with Ormax Media and Film Companion, has released a new edition of the O Womaniya! report to not only initiate an important discussion around gender disparity in the entertainment industry but also introduce a unique Toolkit that can aid filmmakers understand where their content stands in terms of female representation from the get-go itself. The 2024 report doesn’t just showcase tough realities but also asks uncomfortable questions while providing a solution to create equal opportunities for women in the entertainment industry. 

The report analysed 169 films and series released in 2023 across streaming and theatrical in nine languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, and Gujarati), to reveal some important aspects of female representation in Indian entertainment.

What Does O Womaniya! Report Reveal?

Guess what? Streaming content continues to lead in terms of female representation when compared to theatrical releases. The report reveals that only 15% of Head of Department (HOD) positions across key departments like cinematography, editing, writing, direction and production designs were held by women with the majority contribution from streaming platforms. Moving on to the corporate talent analysis, out of the 144 Director/CXO positions analyzed in 25 leading Media & Entertainment firms in India only 12% were held by women! 

The marketing of films and series also has a gap in female representation. Did you know that women only had 29% talk time in trailers? While this has increased in the past 2 years, the growth isn’t rapid enough despite streaming films being more inclined towards allocating more talk time to women in trailers. Interestingly, Made In Heaven Season 2, Boo, Jhimma 3, Taali, Rainbow Rishta, Wedding.con, Sweet Kaaram Coffee, Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo and Jaane Jaan were some of the films and series on the list that had over 55% female trailer talk time. 

What Is The O Womaniya! Toolkit And What Did It Reveal?

The report put together the O Womaniya! Toolkit that aids filmmakers in measuring female representation in content and eliminating biases in the early stages of content creation itself. It checks if female characters in films or series have agency and drive their own stories or if they’re just ornamental to push forward the story of male characters and drive the male POV in storytelling. The O Womaniya! Toolkit showcases that only 31% of all the titles analysed passed the toolkit with (once again) streaming taking the lead with 45% of streaming series passing. And you know what else we observed? 48% of the titles that passed the test were actually commissioned by women! 

Highlighting Prime Video’s belief in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Stuti Ramachandra, Prime Video India’s Director & Head of Production for International Originals said, “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 like 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. O Womaniya! exemplifies the power of collaboration in addressing female representation in the industry. This latest edition of the report calls on us all to accelerate these transformative efforts—not merely taking small steps but making bold strides toward a world where opportunities and growth are defined by capability and talent, not gender.”

Founder & CEO of Ormax Media, Shailesh Kapoor 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 the 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.”

Speaking about the report, Anupama Chopra, Film Critic and Producer said, “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.”

Anupama Chopra also hosted a roundtable to discuss the report further. Featuring Ananya Panday, Richa Chadha, Shakun Batra, Nikkhil Advani, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Ishita Moitra and Stuti Ramachandra, the discussion highlighted the need to change the mindsets and address the challenges faced while moving towards a more equitable society. Check it out here: 

 

First Published: December 18, 2024 12:05 PM