Research Symposium

BIO

Eleanor Kirsch is a second-year Classics major at Florida State University. She is also pursuing a Political Science minor. Eleanor is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa National Leadership Honor Society and the Phi Alpha Delta Pre-Law Fraternity. She is also being initiated into the Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society this semester.

The Characterization of Female Characters in Female-Directed Bollywood Films

Abstract

While women make up over half of the global population, they remain significantly outnumbered behind the camera—only 1 out of 10 directors in Bollywood is a woman. As a result, many female characters are often depicted through a patriarchal and misogynistic lens. However, despite the low ratio of female to male directors, in the past decade, the presence of Bollywood films directed by women has been on a steady incline.

Our research examines the portrayal of female characters in Bollywood films directed by women, an essential component to revealing how women are portrayed in Bollywood as a whole. We watched and analyzed female-directed Bollywood films and used survey coding to materialize our research data. We used Qualtrics surveys to code each female-speaking character systemically and evaluated each across a series of categories, including demographics, representation, behavior, female relationships, and role. In addition to this, we assessed if each film passed the Bechdel test, “a measure of gender representation governed by three rules: that there must be at least two characters who are women, who talk to each other, about something other than a man” (Kalia, 2022). At least two trained researchers independently coded each character, and their responses were cross-checked for consistency.

Our preliminary findings suggest that Bollywood films directed by women can influence how female characters are portrayed on the big screen, which can contribute to how women are viewed in Indian society.

Keywords: Women, Bollywood, Characterization