War and Peace (Hindi, Urdu, DVD)

Anand Patwardhan directs this documentary exploring the militarisation of his native India since the death of peace activist Mahatma Gandhi. Since Gandhi's assassination in 1948, the country has joined the global race to arms along with their nuclear-armed and hostile neighbour Pakistan. Following the country's five nuclear tests in 1998, after which they were declared a fully fledged nuclear state, Patwardhan interviews some of the country's citizens to provide an overview of the cost of nuclear weapons to its population. To do so, he seeks out those living around the atomic testing sites and witnesses the poverty that some have to endure as part of the sacrifice of being a nuclear superpower and in the name of national pride. He also examines the widespread government propaganda in place to keep the population on side despite the protestations aimed at the country from survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings.