Oppenheimer sex scene featuring Bhagavad Gita line 'direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus’

While Oppenheimer has made a spectacular box office opening in India, one sequence in Christopher Nolan's recent release has upset some Indian moviegoers. Netizens have been slamming the use of Bhagavad Gita in an obscene scene, demanding a ban on the film and questioning Information and Broadcasting (IB) minister Anurag Thakur on passing the film without cut.

Hyderabad: The biopic of Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the world's first atomic weapon, was released on Friday. While the film is doing well at the box office, one sequence in the Christopher Nolan epic has upset some Indian moviegoers. The reference to the Bhagavad Gita during an intimate sequence in Christopher Nolan's film about J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man known as "the father of the atomic bomb," has enraged many Indian cinephiles.

Many people have turned to Twitter to ask how the censor board cleared the scene. Protests erupted almost immediately on social media on witnessing the said scene. Among them was Uday Mahurkar, a journalist who was nominated as an information commissioner by the Indian government in 2020. In addition, Mahurkar is the founder of the Save Culture Save India Foundation.

Mahurkar wrote on behalf of the organisation in a letter to Nolan on Twitter: "One is perplexed as to how the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) could approve the film with this scene." The scene in question is when the main character, Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy), is making love to Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh) and quotes a passage from the Bhagavad Gita.

"In the film, a lady makes a man read the Bhagwad Geeta aloud while getting over him and having sexual intercourse... This should be examined immediately by the I & B Ministry, and anyone implicated should be severely punished," read the Save Culture Save India Foundation press statement. Some Twitter users have urged for the film to be boycotted, while others cancelled tickets for its shows in bulk.

Reacting to the tweet, many chimed in the comment section, expressing concern and anger. A social media user supporting boycott calls wrote: :This is a desperate attempt to demean our culture and how this is approved by Indian censor board. Ban this movie." Another one wrote: "@ianuragthakur frankly is either colluding with filmmakers or lacks the will/competence /courage to clean up @CBFC_India Nothing else explains #Adipurush, and now this film #Oppenheimer getting clearance. Ppl at Cbfc who cleared such a film must face criminal charges, including the hand in Bollywood/Hollywood pie Cbfc Chairman. @PMOIndia"

Many also questioned Anurag Thakur, Minister of Information and Broadcasting, as they feel the department is not adept to pass film certification boards. The CBFC has recently come under the scanner for passing Adipurush, which was also heavily criticised for its portrayal of Hindu gods in bad light.

Oppenheimer is Christopher Nolan's first film to be given a R certification in the US. However, India's censor board gave the picture a U/A classification after the studio deleted several sex scenes to make it shorter. According to reports, the studio itself removed a few sequences because it did not believe the Indian censor board would accept it.