Christopher Nolan’s biopic Oppenheimer is facing a backlash in India for quoting a sacred Hindu text during a sex scene.
The Hollywood blockbuster tells the story of American scientist J Robert Oppenheimer and his role in the development of the atomic bomb during the Second World War.
In one scene, actor Cillian Murphy, who plays Oppenheimer, recites a famous line from the Bhagavad Gita after having sex with Florence Pugh’s Jean Tatlock.
“Now I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” he reads out, a phrase the physicist reportedly recalled when the first atomic bomb he invented was detonated on July 16, 1945 .
However, the scene has sparked outrage from officials in the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party.
Uday Mahurkar, a senior official at the government’s Central Information Commission, called it “a direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus”.
. @OppenheimerATOM
— Uday Mahurkar (@UdayMahurkar) July 22, 2023
To,
Mr Christopher Nolan
Director , Oppenheimer film
Date : 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…
In an open letter to Nolan, he wrote: “It has come to our notice that the movie Oppenheimer contains a scene [which makes] a scathing attack on Hinduism.
“As per social media reports, a scene in the movie shows a woman making 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 hand seems to be adjusting the position of their reproductive organs.
“We do not know the motivation and logic behind this unnecessary scene [in the life] of a scientist.
“But this is a direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus, rather it amounts to waging a war on the Hindu community and almost appears to be part of a larger conspiracy by anti-Hindu forces.”
Hashtags such as #BoycottOppenheimer and #RespectHinduCulture have been trending on Twitter.
“This should be investigated... on an urgent basis and those involved should be severely punished,” the nationalist Save Culture Save India Foundation said.
