Oppenheimer scene involving Bhagavad Gita sparks row

Sun, 23 July 2023

11:26

A scene in Christopher Nolan's historical drama Oppenheimer has sparked controversy, with an organisation called Save Culture Save India Foundation demanding the Information and Broadcasting ministry to 'take action and punish those involved' in it.

Released on July 21, Oppenheimer is the biopic of J Robert Oppenheimer, the mind behind the world's first atomic bomb. The scene in question shows Oppenheimer, played by Cillian Murphy, reading the Bhagavad Gita while having sex.

Uday Mahurkar, information officer with the government of India, and founder of the 'Save Culture Save India Foundation', issued a statement on Twitter, calling the movie an attack on Hinduism.

The statement read, 'It has come to the notice of Save Culture Save India Foundation that the movie Oppenheimer which was released on 21st July contains scenes which make a scathing attack on Hinduism. A scene in the movie shows a woman makes a man read Bhagwad Geeta aloud while getting over him and doing sexual intercourse (sic).'

'One is perplexed as to how the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) could approve the movie with this scene,' it further said.

Calling for an 'investigation' by the 'I&B ministry on an urgent basis', the statement said that 'those involved should be severely punished'.

'The Foundation urges, on behalf of the public of this nation and timeless tradition of lives being transformed by revered Geeta, the I & B Ministry to do all that is needed to uphold dignity of the revered holy book of the Hindus, punish those involved and setting processes in place that such things do not happen in future (sic),' it said.

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