The Hindu launched its documentary, Gandhi for Gen Z, on Gandhi Jayanthi, October 2, 2026. Editor Suresh Nambath and CEO L.V. Navaneeth released the film in the presence of Chairman of The Hindu Group N. Murali and Director N. Ram.

The 35-minute documentary looks at the large-scale student protests earlier this year through the lens of Mahatma Gandhi’s teachings about ushering in change through disciplined, non-violent protests and proposes that Gandhi’s philosophies may be relevant even to a generation that has not studied him beyond mentions in school textbooks.

Opening with scenes of the protests at Jantar Mantar in June and moving between archival footage of Gandhi’s life and work during the freedom struggle and his historic residences, Kochrab Ashram and Sabarmati Ashram, the film delves into how a protest triggered by a leaked examination paper expanded into an expression of young people’s anxieties amid today’s political climate.

It looks at how, despite their anger, the protesting students used the oldest tools in the country’s political memory—hunger strikes and disciplined non-violent protests—tools that Gandhi had created decades earlier. The film also examines how the young protesters placed Gandhi and B.R. Ambedkar side by side, drawing lessons from both, despite an old, established discourse that pits the two against each other.

Footage of police action against the protesters and their lack of retaliatory violence reinforced the Gandhi connection: ahimsa, both as moral principle and as a political strategy to gain power through non-violence.

The film features interviews with historian and author Ramachandra Guha, former West Bengal governor and Gandhi’s grandson Gopalkrishna Gandhi, social activist and Gandhi’s great-grandson Tushar Gandhi, Cockroach Janta Party’s chief spokesperson Saurav Das, and Self-Employed Women’s Association director Mirai Chatterjee. They discuss Gandhi’s beliefs and politics, what shaped his life, and the student protests.

“The documentary is very relevant and timely because it brings out, in a meaningful and real way, the relevance of India’s freedom struggle, which was led by Gandhi ji, particularly the method of mass protests and the reasons for not using violence,” said Mr. Ram, noting that the connection between the freedom struggle and the student protests is portrayed very authentically in the film.

The film, which took about three months to make, was spearheaded by Pradeep Gairola, business head - digital, The Hindu Group. It was directed by Shikha Kumari A. and edited by Naveen Kumar V., with camerawork and post-production handled by members of The Hindu’s video team.