Representing Nuclear: the bomb, the Nation and responsibility in popular Indian Cinema

Situated at the intersection of popular cinematic culture, nuclear politics and state identity, this article explores the pattern of nuclear representation in Indian Cinema through comparative analysis of all five nuclear-themed films produced after India’s 1998 nuclear tests: 16 December (2002), Hero: Love Story of a Spy (2003), Fanaa (2006), Parmanu (2018) and Mission Majnu (2023). Using a thematic analysis of visual and narrative elements, the study addresses two central questions: First, how do these Bollywood films represent the cultural meanings and emotions associated with nuclear weapons as techno-political objects, and second, what patterns of continuity and rupture characterize cinematic portrayals of nuclear responsibility, particularly when comparing films released before and after the Bharatiya Janata party’s return to power in 2014? The analysis reveals that after 2014, nuclear films shifted focus from nuclear terrorism and threat prevention to portraying nuclear capability as a major national achievement, paralleling broader changes in India’s political discourse toward assertive nationalism. Nevertheless, significant continuities persist, particularly the privileging of human agency over technological determinism and the intertwining of personal sacrifice with national security. Crucially, the study identifies a paradox: while Indian nuclear cinema challenges Western ‘nuclear orientalism’ by asserting Indian competence and civilizational values, it simultaneously reproduces similar orientalist logic toward Pakistan, depicting it as institutionally fragmented and religiously extremist. Overall, the nuclear representation emerged as a nuanced, evolving discourse negotiated through cultural productions, transforming nuclear weapons from distant policy abstractions into components of collective imagination and national identity.