AFP
KEY POINTS
- Use of a sacred Hindu scripture during the sex scene has angered right-wing groups in India
- Despite the backlash, the biopic grossed around $7.33 million in India since Friday
- A government official has called for the worldwide removal of the scene from the movie
The use of a sacred Hindu scripture during a sex scene in Christopher Nolan’s movie “Oppenheimer” has sparked an uproar among right-wing groups in India.
The biographical drama about U.S. physicist Robert Oppenheimer opened in India last Friday and raked in around $7.33 million (600 million rupees), Warner Bros. Discovery said Monday. However, the use of the Bhagavad Gita in the sex scene irked some social media users, who branded it as “a scathing attack on Hinduism.”
The scene shows Oppenheimer (played by Cillian Murphy) being asked by his lover Jean Tatlock (played by Florence Pugh) to read from a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, considered the holiest of Hindu scripture.
“And now I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” Oppenheimer recites before they resume sexual intercourse.
Right-wing groups took to Twitter and slammed the use of the Bhagavad Gita in the scene.
I’m calling for a boycott of the movie Oppenheimer. I just learned there is a highly offensive scene involving the Bhagavad Gita in it. I will not repeat it here, but it involves something explicit. Never trust Hollywood and West to depict Hinduism positively and accurately.
— Indian-Americans (@HinduAmericans) July 20, 2023
Oppenheimer himself would take offense at that strange scene, given his deep respect for the Bhagavad Gita.
Nolan seems to have disregarded Oppenheimer’s deep interests in religion and philosophy. Obviously, he would not present the Tanakh, Bible, or Koran in a similar manner. https://t.co/j6lHwklwuA
— Onkara ♡ (@sacredrain) July 24, 2023
Was planning to watch Oppenheimer but the disrespect towards Bhagavat Gita in the movie is intolerable. Didn’t expect this from Christopher Nolan…
— Shivang Shandilya (@shivv_twt) July 23, 2023
@Chris_Nolann has deliberately insulted the Bhagavad Gita in order to create a controversy and get cheap publicity for his film Oppenheimer.
Has he guts to do such a lousy scene with the Bible or the Quran ?#Hinduphobia
— Shankar (@GShankar108) July 23, 2023
There was a scene in Oppenheimer where a naked girl brings the Bhagvat Gita to Oppenheimer and he reads from it while they’re having sex.
Very disrespectful scene in my opinion.— Sufyan (@PsyOpValkyrie) July 21, 2023
India’s minister of information and broadcasting, Anurag Thakur, questioned the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for giving clearance to “Oppenheimer.” He said the censor board failed to “safeguard the interests of the public” and demanded “absolute accountability” from CBFC.
Uday Mahurkar, India’s Information Commissioner and the founder of the nationalist Save Culture Save India Foundation, posted a letter to the film’s director on Twitter.
“It has come to our notice that the movie Oppenheimer contains a scene which make a scathing attack on Hinduism. As per social media reports, a scene in the movie shows a woman makes a man read Bhagwad Geeta aloud while getting over him and doing sexual intercourse. She is holding Bhagwad Geeta in one hand, and the other hands seems to be adjusting the position of their reproductive organs,” Mahurkar wrote and demanded removal of the scene from “Oppenheimer.”
“We urge, on behalf of billion Hindus and timeless tradition of lives being transformed by revered Geeta, to do all that is needed to uphold dignity of their revered book and remove this scene from your film across world,” he said. “Should you choose to ignore this appeal it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilization.”
. @OppenheimerATOM
To,
Mr Christopher Nolan
Director , Oppenheimer filmDate : July 22, 2023
Reg: Film Oppenheimer’s disturbing attack on Hinduism
Dear Mr Christopher Nolan,
Namaste from Save Culture Save India Foundation.
It has come to our notice that the movie…
— Uday Mahurkar (@UdayMahurkar) July 22, 2023
