In the wake of India’s landmark 1998 nuclear tests, Bollywood cinema has emerged as a compelling arena for negotiating and reflecting public perceptions of nuclear weapons. A recent in-depth analysis of five significant nuclear-themed Hindi films produced after these tests reveals the intricate ways popular culture intersects with elite policy narratives, shaping collective understanding of nuclear power in India. This corpus of films encapsulates the evolving cultural meanings of atomic weapons, functioning not merely as entertainment but as active participants in the construction of national identity and geopolitical discourse.
At the heart of this cinematic exploration lies a tension between pride in India’s nuclear capability and the persistent anxieties associated with atomic threats. Early films from the post-1998 period portray nuclear weapons less as instruments of triumph and more as dangers to be contained and neutralized. Employing nuanced audio-visual techniques including evocative dialogues, symbolic music, and cultural codes steeped in Indian tradition, these narratives emphasize vulnerability and the imperative of threat prevention. The nuclear device is often presented implicitly—shrouded by strategic ambiguity—mirroring India’s cautious stance in international nuclear diplomacy of the time.
A pivotal transformation occurs around 2014, heralded by films such as Parmanu and Mission Majnu, which pivot dramatically from vulnerability to assertion. Nuclear weapons are no longer solely portrayed as existential dangers requiring vigilant containment; rather, they become emblematic of India’s ascent on the global stage. These later films celebrate the technological sophistication, intelligence capabilities, and national progress symbolized by nuclear status. The bomb is depicted as a tool that commands respect and fear from rival states, reversing earlier narratives that highlighted its potential misuse by terrorists or hostile actors. This shift reflects broader socio-political currents, including a resurgence of assertive nationalism and confidence in India’s strategic posture.
The evolution in narrative style accompanying this thematic shift is equally striking. Traditional cinematic elements—poetry, classical music, and mythological symbolism—give way to technical, mission-focused storytelling that foregrounds scientific processes and intelligence operations. By skillfully blending dramatic reenactments with archival footage and meticulously researched period details, these films construct a powerful sense of authenticity. This quasi-documentary mode implicates viewers in a shared national memory, merging intimate spectatorship with collective statecraft. Even the cautious disclaimers denying full historical accuracy serve to reinforce rather than undermine the films’ legitimacy, underscoring their role as cultural tools for nation-building.
Yet, despite these temporal and stylistic shifts, several continuities persist across the corpus of nuclear-themed cinema. Most notably, the geopolitical dichotomy between India and Pakistan remains a defining narrative axis. Indian nuclear weapons are consistently framed as legitimate safeguards, while Pakistan—and by extension its nuclear arsenal—is exoticized and othered through an orientalist lens. This paradoxical dynamic reveals ongoing challenges in moving beyond inherited hierarchical frameworks that complicate genuine decolonization of nuclear discourse. Moreover, these films perpetuate a binary of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ hands controlling nuclear weapons, constructing an implicit firewall that protects the Indian nuclear establishment from critical scrutiny.
Another foundational narrative thread involves the intertwining of personal sacrifice with national imperatives. Protagonists in these films frequently forfeit intimate relationships, romantic love, and familial ties in the name of protecting the nation. Such dramatizations underscore how national security agendas permeate and reshape private human experiences, normalizing the subjugation of individual emotion to the collective good. This dynamic also humanizes nuclear anxieties, reframing abstract technology as something manageable through heroic leadership and moral fortitude rather than deterministic scientific forces.
The cinematic treatment of nuclear weapons further exemplifies a clear privileging of human agency over technology. The films emphasize that the power of the bomb rests not simply in its destructive potential, but in the choices and courage of individuals who wield authority. This narrative strategy assuages existential fears by projecting an image of mastery and control, contrasting with the more fatalistic or impersonal depictions common in Western nuclear cinema. Indian protagonists embody responsibility and restraint, reinforcing a vision of nuclear weapons as instruments of disciplined national honor rather than instruments of indiscriminate destruction.
However, these films also systematically exclude certain crucial dimensions of nuclear discourse. Environmental consequences, radiation’s long-term effects on human health, and profound questions regarding the strategic rationale for maintaining nuclear arsenals remain conspicuously absent. Issues such as the credibility of deterrence, prospects for disarmament, and advocacy for nuclear weapon–free zones are sidestepped, likely due to concerns about being labeled anti-national in a politically charged context. This silencing reflects broader securitized knowledge frameworks in India, where state power circumscribes popular engagement with nuclear matters, despite vocal public protests against nuclear projects like the Kudankulam power plant.
This selective portrayal underscores the dual role Bollywood films play: while amplifying patriotic fervor and legitimizing nuclear weapons as cornerstones of national identity, they also constrain democratic discourse and critical inquiry. The narratives reinforce a cultural “nuclear common sense” that naturalizes atomic weapons as indispensable to India’s pride and international stature. Yet, this normalization also reveals the complexities and contradictions inherent in popular culture’s mediation of elite power. Far from passively reflecting official policy, cinema actively sustains the consensus that enables nuclear weapons’ continued centrality in national security narratives.
Future research avenues may delve deeper into the transnational circulation of this cultural legitimization process, exploring how similar cinematic languages shape nuclear consensus in different geopolitical contexts. Additionally, examining audience reception and the interplay between nuclear cinema and other cultural forms—such as literature, television, and digital media—could shed light on how nuclear imaginaries evolve in response to shifting political and technological landscapes. Such studies would advance our understanding of the cultural dimensions of nuclear politics, revealing the vibrant, contested terrain where national identity, security, and popular culture intersect.
In sum, Indian nuclear cinema since 1998 exemplifies a dynamic and evolving site of negotiation, where national pride, geopolitical rivalry, and the ethics of atomic power converge on the silver screen. Through an emotional and affective lens, these films translate abstract strategic concerns into personal stories of sacrifice and heroism, embedding nuclear weapons within the fabric of cultural consciousness. By tracing the shifts from vulnerability and fear to confidence and assertiveness, as well as the persistent framing of enemy otherness, the films encapsulate the ideological work necessary to sustain nuclear weapons as symbols of responsible statehood.
The cinematic portrayal of nuclear weapons also highlights the enduring power of storytelling in shaping public imaginaries of science and technology. As debates about nuclear strategy and disarmament continue globally, understanding how popular culture channels and constrains these conversations becomes increasingly vital. Bollywood’s nuclear narratives do not merely entertain; they participate in the active construction of India’s nuclear modernity, mediating between the technical complexities of atomic science and the deeply human quest to secure the nation’s future in a perilous world.
Ultimately, this analysis underscores that popular cinema functions as a cultural battleground where issues of science, power, identity, and morality intersect. By refracting state policies through the prism of narrative, emotion, and symbolism, Bollywood nuclear films articulate both the possibilities and limits of democratic engagement with one of the most consequential technologies of our era. They remind us that nuclear weapons are not only geopolitical tools but also culturally charged objects whose meanings are continually made and remade in the collective imagination.
Subject of Research:
Representation of nuclear weapons, national identity, and responsibility in popular Indian cinema after the 1998 nuclear tests.
Article Title:
Representing Nuclear: the bomb, the Nation and responsibility in popular Indian Cinema.
Article References:
Asthana, A. Representing Nuclear: the bomb, the Nation and responsibility in popular Indian Cinema.
Humanit Soc Sci Commun 12, 1612 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-05989-0
Image Credits: AI Generated
