A scene in Oppenheimer, in which the titular character appears to have sex as he reads out verses from an ancient Sanskrit scripture, has 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.
Contrary to the claims, however, the movie doesn’t mention Bhagavad Gita by name since the version released in India is different to those released abroad. The scene was reportedly already edited when it was submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for certification.
The conversation in the contentious scene makes a reference to Sanskrit text, but the characters, who are shown discussing various books, do not mention the Bhagavad Gita.
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 56 crores at the box office in four days. Worldwide, the film has collected over USD 174 million.
J Robert Oppenheimer, regarded as ‘the father of the atom bomb’, had 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 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 CBFC gave the film a U/A rating, making it suitable for viewers above 13 years, after studio Universal Pictures cut some scenes to reduce its length.
The international version of the film released in US was given an ‘R’ rating for all the nudity and explicit scenes of intimacy.
However, before submitting the film to CBFC the filmmaker had voluntarily removed all scenes containing infrequent nudity and explicit content.
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