TOPIC: FROM NARRATIVE TO NUDITY: THE RISE OF VOYEURISTIC WEB CONTENT AND THE DEATH OF STORYTELLING ON INDIAN OTT PLATFORMS

Abstract [English]

The present study examines the digital storytelling landscape on Indian Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms, focusing on the rapid rise and continuous expansion of voyeuristic web content. It explores how traditional narrative structures are increasingly displaced by erotic spectacle. It signals a potential ‘death of narrative’ in selected Indian voyeuristic web series. The study uses Narrative and Gaze Analysis (NGA) as its methodology. NGA is based on a seven-parameter matrix developed through inductive coding. These parameters emerged from the data and were supported by theories from media studies, sexuality studies, and feminist visual culture. The study looks at how the stories are told, where the sexual content is placed, how it is placed, how the sound is designed to achieve voyeuristic aesthetics. All these elements were organized into categories to see what patterns and themes came up across the selected series. The study examined themes such as Absence or Simplification of Plot, where storytelling becomes weaker because erotic content is given more importance; Voyeurism, where visual pleasure is prioritized over meaningful narrative; Objectification of Characters, especially the portrayal of women as sexual objects; and Moral and Ethical Representation of Sexuality, where sexual behaviour is shown as acceptable, taboo, or socially transgressive. Findings suggest a paradigmatic shift where narrative depth goes down and sensationalized sexual imagery becomes dominant in such web content.