Opinion The #Barbenheimer moment: Lessons for Indian filmmakers on the power of diversity, inclusion

First, Oppenheimer is helmed by Christopher Nolan who, over time, has built a substantial fan base in India. Nolan’s works are more palatable to the Indian audience as he innovatively plays with genres — superhero, war, and crime — that have otherwise been explored to death. By comparison, Indian audiences are not as familiar with Greta Gerwig as a filmmaker. Also, Barbie is not a cultural phenomenon relatable to families across India. In fact, research shows that Barbie as a doll brand failed in India from the very start. Therefore, the publicity strategy of drawing on nostalgia and the aspiration of women and families was ineffective in India. In the absence of a cultural context, the pinkwashing, both literal and figurative, barring a certain class, alienated Indian male and female audiences alike.

This article is not another Oppenheimer vs Barbie piece. Despite the odds against Barbie in India, it has earned robust numbers. This can be attributed to the global hype around #Barbenheimer and the word-of-mouth publicity for Gerwig’s fresh approach to a genre traditionally described as “chick flick”. But it is also impossible to ignore that in the first four days at the worldwide box office, a story that placed the unseen femaverse as its front and centre collected $414.4 million, surpassing the established an action-packed maleverse like Mission Impossible, which scored $373 million, and Oppenheimer, which breached the $ 200 million mark. And yet, this did not happen in India.

This event presents an opportunity for Indian filmmakers to pause and rethink our motivations for making cinema. Gerwig, Nolan, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Bong Joon-ho, and many others, are examples of a growing creed of global filmmakers who splendidly use cinema to showcase contemporary social themes that need urgent attention while confronting inherent biases. One of the key reasons for the emergence of such disruptive talent stems from the willingness of audiences to trek to the theatres for unique cinematic experiences. Researchers at UCLA’s Center for Scholars and Storytellers found that even after accounting for critical acclaim, big-budget films lacking in diversity make about $27 million less on their opening weekend, with a potential loss of $130 million in total.

Building on research by the Creative Artist Agency, an influential American talent management agency, the Shift7 report found that films starring women do better at box offices worldwide — blockbusters and low-budget movies alike. Also, every movie in the study that passed the Bechdel Test (a measure of the representation of women in film and other fiction), grossed more than $1 billion in the global box office and made more money than ones that did not pass it.

These are just some of the many industry studies in the West underscoring diversity as the real reason positively impacting the bottom line. This coupled with initiatives like Time’s Up, an action-oriented next step in the #MeToo movement started by 300 women in Hollywood that works towards workplace equity, has upped the ante for investors and studios to greenlight authentically diverse stories. It has also generated substantial pressure to make film crews inclusive. The global obsession with #Barbenheimer and unabashed focus on female and diverse audiences by producers, is an outcome of several years of research and activism in the West.

The ground reality in India for the changing audience profile is no different. A report titled ‘At A Theatre Near You’ found that 53 per cent of people visiting movie theatres today are women and the general perception that women do not watch films as much as men does not hold up. This, despite poorer access to cinema halls in second and third tier cities for women. The OTT business is also seeing rapidly changing demographic shifts.

The state of flux in Indian film revenues in the post-Covid era, coupled with pressures from OTT platforms, lower box office collections and rising inflation, is not just an issue here — it is a worldwide phenomenon. The traditional approach to movie making and marketing must be phased out if the Indian film industry wants to thrive. We see that shift in India marginally in the OTT space, but the effort is tepid, reactive, and short of resources. In the absence of proactive industry research and pressure groups like Times Up and 5050×2020 (which campaigns for gender parity), the film industry is pandering to age-old notions instead of investing in a disruptive talent pool that makes authentic, plural content.

The box office success of movies like Barbie, Everything Everywhere All At Once, Oppenheimer and others, the growing following for Korean dramas and Japanese anime, globally and in India, reiterates that when we make cinema that is sincere, and not limited by superhero constraints, it will be rewarded by audiences desperate for something different. The question for Indian filmmakers is, are we willing to reorient our moral compass and artistic endeavours in that direction?

The writer is an actor, dancer, and public policy researcher