A grandmother sits quietly in a brightly lit living room, watching a popular family drama unfold on screen. Around her, younger actors command every conversation, their faces reflecting a single light skin tone and a narrow age band. For millions of viewers across the subcontinent, these nightly broadcasts provide more than entertainment; they offer a mirror to society. To evaluate how closely that mirror reflects reality, the Geena Davis Institute partnered with the University of Southern California’s Signal Analysis and Interpretation Laboratory (SAIL), Google Research, and the International Advertising Association India Chapter. This comprehensive study, Reflecting India: An Intersectional and Longitudinal Analysis of Popular Scripted Television, examines five years of top-rated series (2018–2024) across five distinct languages.
This research expands on our previous study, See It, Be It: What Families Are Seeing on TV, which analyzed 12 years of U.S. programming. However, by moving our focus to India’s dynamic media landscape, we now apply advanced machine learning technology to measure screen time, skin tone, and character age across major regional industries.
Key Findings: Quick Overview
Our analysis reveals complex trade-offs between gender visibility and intersectional diversity across five years of programming:
- Female Character Screen Time: Across all years and languages, female characters captured 55.8% of screen time, compared to 44.2% for male characters.
- Audible Name Mentions: Female names accounted for 55.6% of overall name mentions on screen. However, unique female names made up only 46.7%, indicating that storylines focus heavily on a smaller pool of female leads.
- Prevailing Youth Focus: The vast majority of on-screen characters across all industries were young adults between the ages of 18 and 33.
- Age Disparities Across Genders: Older characters appeared infrequently overall. Furthermore, male characters displayed significantly more age diversity than female characters.
- Dominance of Light Skin Tones: Characters with light skin tones appeared eight times more often than characters with medium or dark skin tones combined. Consequently, medium skin tone representation saw only a slight increase over time.
- Intersectional Skin Tone Gaps: When on screen, female characters possessed lighter skin tones on average than their male counterparts.
- Regional Diversity Leadership: Tamil- and Telugu-language series demonstrated the highest levels of skin tone diversity among all five language markets analyzed.
Analyzing the Intersection of Gender, Colorism, and Youth Primacy
While female characters achieve strong overall screen time, a closer examination reveals rigid aesthetic constraints. Specifically, casting choices heavily favor young, light-skinned women for leading roles. As a result, middle-aged and darker-skinned women are routinely pushed to the margins of narrative television.
Furthermore, colorism and ageism work together to restrict who gets to tell stories. When television shows consistently link beauty and prominence to light skin tones, they reinforce color-based biases in daily life. Meanwhile, ignoring older women erases the real-world influence of female matriarchs who guide households and communities across India.
Actionable Recommendations for Television Directors, Writers, and Casting Teams
To build a television landscape that reflects the genuine richness of Indian society, production teams can implement these concrete practices:
- Cast Women with Diverse Skin Tones: Expand leading roles to include women with medium and dark skin tones rather than reserving prominent screen time for light-skinned actors.
- Increase Age Diversity in Female Roles: Write compelling narratives centered on middle-aged and older women, featuring intergenerational household dynamics, business leaders, and community matriarchs.
- Broaden Regional Casting Standards: Learn from Tamil and Telugu production practices to incorporate broader skin-tone spectrums across Hindi and other regional language shows.
- Develop Unique Female Character Arcs: Move beyond a small circle of central leads by giving supporting female characters distinct names, developed backstories, and independent goals.
Supporting Evidence-Based Research for Global Media Inclusion
Data-driven research gives media executives the tools needed to break through long-standing industry conventions. At the Geena Davis Institute, we work alongside global creative teams to replace restrictive tropes with authentic, multi-dimensional character portrayals.
Support our ongoing global research initiatives to help foster fairer media environments. Donate to the Geena Davis Institute today to advance intersectional representation across global entertainment.
Photo credit: IndiaPix/IndiaPicture via Getty Images