Prime Video released the latest edition of O Womaniya! report, the study on female representation in Indian entertainment. The report is researched and curated by media consulting firm Ormax Media, produced by Film Companion Studios, and championed by Prime Video.
The O Womaniya! 2024 study delves into current and emerging trends, while identifying gaps in female representation across key areas of production, corporate leadership, and marketing in Indian entertainment. This year, the report analysed 169 films and series released in 2023 in nine Indian languages (Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Bengali, and Gujarati), across streaming and theatrical.
“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 Gender Equality 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,” said Ormax Media founder & CEO Shailesh Kapoor.
“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 organisation. In a collaborative industry such as ours, the true impact of DEI can only be realised when it is embraced across the board, with each of us committing to fostering an environment where women are seen, heard, and truly valued,” said Prime Video India international originals production head Stuti Ramachandra. “O Womaniya! exemplifies the power of collaboration in addressing female representation in the industry. This latest edition of the report calls on all of us 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.”
Speaking about the report, film critic and producer Anupama Chopra 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.”
Key findings of the report include:
- Content: The report institutionalised a new test, Gender Equality Toolkit, this year to measure female representation in content, and also enable filmmakers to apply the test and eliminate biases early on in the content creation cycle. The test 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 per cent of the titles analysed passed the Gender Equality Toolkit test, with streaming series taking the lead with 45 per cent of them passing the test. The report also revealed that more stories pass the test when there is a female commissioning-in-charge, as 48 per cent of the titles that passed the test were commissioned by women. The report also deployed the more traditional Bechdel Test to analyse content to reveal almost half the titles falling short on this test as well.
- Creative talent: Only 15 per cent of the HOD positions analysed across key departments of direction, cinematography, editing, writing, and production design, were held by women. Streaming had a significant contribution to this, with both streaming films and series having over 20 per cent of HOD positions helmed by women. Editing took the lead amongst departments with over 18 per cent of films and movies, mostly on streaming, having female editors.
- Marketing: Women still have only 29 per cent talk time in trailers. Though it has increased in the past two years, growth remains marginal, with streaming films showcasing the highest propensity to allocate more talk time to women in promotional trailers. Of the titles analysed, Made in Heaven Season 2 (Hindi), Boo (Telugu), Jhimma 2 (Marathi), Taali (Hindi), Rainbow Rishta (Hindi), Wedding.con (Hindi), Sweet Kaaram Coffee (Tamil), Saas Bahu Aur Flamingo (Hindi), and Jaane Jaan (Hindi) were some of the films and series to feature high in the list of the O Womaniya! Report.
- Corporate Talent: Among the 144 director/CXO positions analysed across 25 leading M&E firms in India, only 12 per cent were held by women, a slight decline over the last year.
