Cillian Murphy-starrer ‘Oppenheimer’ sparks social media controversy

New Delhi: A scene in ‘Oppenheimer’, in which the titular character appears to have sex as he reads out verses from an ancient Sanskrit scripture, irked a section of social media users, who claimed the lines are from the ‘Bhagavad Gita’ and demanded the removal of the sequence from Christopher Nolan’s latest film.

‘Oppenheimer’, a 180-minute-long sprawling biographical drama on the titular American theoretical physicist, opened in India on Friday to positive reviews and has reportedly amassed close to Rs 30 crores at the box office in two days.

Uday Mahurkar, Information Commissioner, Government of India, wrote an open letter to Nolan, terming the scene a ‘disturbing attack on Hinduism’ and appealed to the director to remove the scene worldwide.

“We urge on behalf of billions of Hindus and the timeless tradition of lives being transformed by revered ‘Geeta’, to do all that is needed to uphold the dignity of their revered book and remove this scene from your film across the world. Should you choose to ignore this appeal it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilisation. Eagerly await needful action,” Mahurkar, founder of ‘Save Culture Save India Foundation’, wrote.

J Robert Oppenheimer, regarded as ‘the father of the atom bomb’, learnt Sanskrit and was said to be influenced by the ‘Bhagavad Gita’. In an interview, the physicist had recalled that the only thought which came to his mind after he witnessed the first detonation of a nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, was a verse from the ancient Hindu text: “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of the world.” In the film, Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, is shown having sex with psychologist Jean Tatler (Florence Pugh) as she asks him to read a verse from what appears to be a Sanskrit book, whose title or cover is not visible. On Tatler’s insistence, a confused Oppenheimer reads out the verse she points at: “Now, I am become Death, destroyer of the world.” According to reports, the ‘Central Board of Film Certification’ (CBFC) gave the film a U/A rating, making it suitable for viewers above 13 years, after the studio ‘Universal Pictures’ cut some scenes to reduce its length.

In the US, the movie has been rated ‘R – Restricted’, which means viewers under 17 would require an accompanying parent or adult guardian. This is Nolan’s first R-rated film.

In his post, Mahurkar said he was ‘perplexed as to how the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) could approve the movie with this scene’. There was no immediate response from CBFC chairperson Prasoon Joshi and other members of the censor board when contacted.

Some users called for the boycott of ‘Oppenheimer’.

“I just learnt 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 the West to depict Hinduism positively and accurately,” a user said.

“Hindus have been celebrating the mention of the ‘Bhagwad Gita’ in ‘Oppenheimer’, but they are left angry and perplexed at the blatant disrespect of the ‘Gita’ by Hollywood. Mentioning holy verses while having sex is considered disrespectful and racist,” wrote another.