"Scathing Attack On Hinduism": 'Oppenheimer' Sex Scene Featuring Cillian Murphy, Florence Pugh Sparks Outrage In India
'Oppenheimer' finds itself in the middle of a huge controversy in India after a sex scene in the movie has led to protests in the country.
Christopher Nolan's 'Oppenheimer' released in the theatres on Friday (July 21) and it has been raking in the moolah at the box office. However, in the latest entertainment news, the Cillian Murphy-starrer finds itself in the middle of a huge controversy in India after a sex scene in the movie, featuring a line from 'Bhagavad Gita', has led to protests in the country.
For the unversed, 'Oppenheimer' was passed with a U/A certificate by India's Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The particular sex scene in question features Cillian Murphy's Robert Oppenheimer and Florence Pugh's Jean Tatlock.
Uday Mahurkar who was appointed as an Information Officer by the Indian government in 2020, has written a letter to Christopher Nolan on behalf of Save Culture Save India Foundation.
In his letter, he said: "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. The Bhagwad Geeta is one of the most revered scriptures of Hinduism."
"Geeta has been the inspiration for countless sanyasis, brahmcharis and legends who live a life of self-control and perform selfless noble deeds. We do not know the motivation and logic behind this unnecessary scene on 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," the letter further stated.
. @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…
The letter also urges the director to "remove this scene from your film across world." "Should you choose to ignore this appeal it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilisation," the letter states.
In the scene, Pugh stops herself during the intercourse, and she gets up to go over to her bookshelf. She then picks out a copy of the 'Bhagavad Gita' and asks Murphy's character to read from it.
Murphy then reads the line: "I am become Death, destroyer of worlds," which is a quote from 'Bhagavad Gita'. After this, the intercourse resumed. For the uninitiated, this is the famous quote that Oppenheimer thought of when the first nuclear bomb was detonated.
However, this is not the first time that a quote from 'Bhagavad Gita' has been featured in a Hollywood film.
Earlier, an orgy scene in 1999-film 'Eyes Wide Shut' featured the lines "For the protection of the virtuous, for the destruction of evil and for the firm establishment of Dharma, I take birth and am incarnated on Earth, from age to age.”
This led to protests from Hindu groups, and Warner Bros was forced to edit out the lines from the soundtrack.
