Decoding Gender: A Semiotic Visual Analysis of Bollywood Film Posters from 1970 to 2020

Film studies have extensively explored the content of films to draw the cultural implications of gender representations. However, rarely have film posters been studied to decode gender representations. Since film posters are designed as a marketing tool for films, they both draw from current cultural belief systems to entice attendance and simultaneously reinforce and redefine those systems. While the artist’s intent may be to highlight or portray a specific cultural belief, as audiences change, their interpretation of the rendering may also shift. The present study uses a feminist lens and visual approach to decode gender depictions on Bollywood film posters over five decades (1970–2020). Analysing 30 interviews, the study finds that gender representation has changed over the years from ‘male chauvinism’ in the first era 1970–1990 to ‘soft patriarchy’ in the second era 1991–2000 and ‘towards gender equality’ in the third era 2001–2020. In doing so, the study establishes the significance of Bollywood film posters in conveying the changing cultural representations of gender in Indian society over the years. It also emphasises film posters as important visual narratives for research in film studies.