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'Oppenheimer' sex scene sparks outrage in India

July 24, 2023

Christopher Nolan's latest blockbuster "Oppenheimer" has caused controversy among Hindu nationalist groups in India. A senior government official has written a letter to the director urging him to remove the "sex scene."

https://p.dw.com/p/4UJdi
The movie stars Cillian Murphy as J. Robert Oppenheimer.
'Oppenheimer' opened in India on Friday to positive reviewsImage: Universal Pictures/AP/picture alliance

A sex scene from the recently released Hollywood movie "Oppenheimer" has drawn online outrage in India, after it was heavily criticized by Hindu nationalist groups. 

One scene from the biographical drama about US physicist Robert Oppenheimer shows the protagonist reciting a verse from the Bhagavad Gita — one of the holiest scriptures of Hinduism — just before sexual intercourse. 

He reads the line, "Now I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." 

"This is a direct assault on religious beliefs of a billion tolerant Hindus, rather it amounts to waging a war on the Hindu community," Uday Mahurkar, a senior official at the government's Central Information Commission wrote to the film's director, Christopher Nolan. 

In the letter that he posted on Twitter, Mahurkar argued that the motivation and logic behind including "this unnecessary scene" in the life of a scientist were not clear. 

Hashtags such as #BoycottOppenheimer and #RespectHinduCulture have been trending on Twitter.

Oppenheimer, played by actor Cillian Murphy, oversaw the creation of the atomic bomb during World War II, and is said to have recalled the Bhagavad Gita quote when the first bomb was detonated.

Hindu groups demand sex scene be cut

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), a prominent right-wing organization, said the movie was an attempt to "launch an attack" on Hindu society and called for the sex scene to be cut. 

VHP spokesperson Vinod Bansal said "the makers should apologize to the Hindu community all over the world whose sentiments have been badly hurt."

However, government critics say religious intolerance has been growing in India since the Hindu nationalist party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. 

The Indian Central Board of Film Certification rated the movie U/A, which recommends parental guidance for viewers aged under 12. 

According to Warner Bros Discovery, which released the film in India, the picture has grossed around 600 million rupees ($7.33 million, € 6.61 million) since Friday. 

Millions expected to flock to 'Barbenheimer' opening weekend

ara/nm (AFP, Reuters)