The question of class representation in the media is becoming more popular after the 2007 financial crisis, the 2011 Occupy movement and the overall rise of inequality across the globe. Women as a group has been negatively impacted by these economic upheavals and issues such as unemployment, diminished economic power and difficulty to overcome traditional stereotypes are of concern. Historically many of these issues have found their expression on screen not only in film produced in Hollywood but also from countries around the world. 

Studies on the representation of women in Bollywood films have been largely focused on their relationship to modernity and tradition whereas focus on class has not been a prominent subject. Moreover, the 1991 economic liberalization reforms in India have brought a change both in the society by increasing the percentage of the middle classes and in film narratives.

By applying a content analysis methodology to films produced during a period of time spanning two decades, before and after the liberalizing economic reforms India experienced in 1991, this paper will attempt to track changing representations of class of women protagonists and their connections with other stereotypes.

The result of the investigation points to a changing relationship between social class representation of women protagonists and their depictions as wester/traditional and urban/rural.