• Reportage

Source: BRAND EQUITY ONLINE

Indian audiences are turning away from fantasy films. They now prefer stories reflecting real-life struggles and complexities. This shift means brands must change how they connect with people. Traditional aspirational marketing may no longer be effective. New approaches are needed to resonate with viewers seeking authenticity and relatable content in today’s evolving media landscape.

Highlights
. Indian viewers prefer raw narratives over traditional escapism.
. Brands must adapt to new audience values in Indian cinema.
. The shift challenges the effectiveness of aspirational marketing.

Indian consumers are abandoning traditional escapism in cinema and streaming media in favour of “raw and gritty” narratives, a shift that demands a fundamental pivot in how brands communicate with the world’s most populous nation.

A whitepaper released on Tuesday by Hakuhodo India and its group agency Ma+Th, titled Lights. Camera. Insight!, argues that the “hyper- fantasy” spectacles once synonymous with Bollywood are losing ground to content that mirrors the moral and social complexities of daily life. The report, which builds on the agency’s 2025 trends analysis, suggests that the “unfiltered reality” seen in popular 2025 content reflects a broader desire for emotional preparedness among the Indian public.

The agency’s research identifies five primary transitions in the Indian sei-katsu-sha – a term Hakuhodo uses to describe the “holistic person” rather than a mere consumer. The most significant shift is the move from “gloss” to “grit,” where audiences now prefer stories that expose unresolved rage and authentic chaos over sanitised resolutions.

The whitepaper noted that the trend towards “morally conflicted” characters and “internally anchored” success narratives suggests that societal benchmarks are being replaced by personal values. For international brands, the implications are stark: the traditional “hero” archetype and the “relentless hustle” for upward mobility no longer resonate with an audience seeking “hyper-relatability” and “contextual fluidity.”

The report concludes that as Indian cinema moves away from clean binaries of good versus evil, brands must adopt these more layered identities to remain relevant. However, the whitepaper stops short of quantifying the direct impact of this shift on advertising conversion rates, leaving open the question of whether “raw” branding can match the historical reach of aspirational marketing in the region.

Download the full report here: Lights. Camera. Insight Hakuhodo India | ET BrandEquity

End article

 

Click on the below to read the full article by BRAND EQUITY ONLINE:
https://brandequity.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/media/hakuhodo-whitepaper-signals-shift-in-indian-consumer-sentiment-toward-realism/129943484