‘Oppenheimer’ sex scene involving sacred text sparks backlash in India

25 July, 2023

A sex scene in Oppenheimer in which Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh’s characters read a sacred Hindu text in bed has sparked controversy and reports of censorship in India.

The scene in question sees J. Robert Oppenheimer (Murphy) recite a verse from Hindu scripture The Bhagavad Gita to lover Jean Tatlock (Pugh) during intercourse.

In a letter addressed to director Christopher Nolan shared on Twitter, India’s Information Commissioner and Save Culture Save India Foundation founder Uday Mahurkar described the scene as a “scathing attack on Hinduism”.

Oppenheimer
Cillian Murphy in ‘Oppenheimer’. CREDIT: Universal

Posted to Twitter on Saturday (July 22), the letter reads: “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.

It goes on to describe The Bhagwad Geeta as “one of the most revered scriptures of Hinduism”.

“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 also asked why the film industry is “very sensitive about the fact that Quran and Islam is not depicted in any manner that may offend the value system of a common Muslim”, but why “the same courtesy” is not extended to Hindus.

In continued: “You have great admiration in India for your art of filmmaking. We believe that if you remove this scene and do the needful to win hearts of Hindus, it will go a long way to establish your credentials as a sensitized human being and gift you friendship of billions of nice people.

“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.”

The statement concluded that should Nolan “choose to ignore this appeal”, it would be “deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilisation”.

According to Variety, India’s minister for information and broadcasting Anurag Thakur called for the scene to be deleted entirely.

Others have reported that one scene, which depicts Pugh’s character sitting naked in a chair across from Murphy’s Oppenheimer, has also been altered to show Pugh in a black dress.

Before the film’s release this weekend, Murphy discussed the film’s sex scenes and revealed that it features “prolonged full nudity” from the main cast.

In a five-star review of Oppenheimer, NME wrote that the film was “not just the definitive account of the man behind the atom bomb”, but a “monumental achievement in grown-up filmmaking”.​

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