A record-breaking opening weekend was achieved by Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer,” which debuted on July 21 and made $60 million (gross) from 1923 screens in India. It was the biggest ever opening weekend for a Hollywood non-franchise movie. India follows the United States and the United Kingdom as the third-largest market in the globe.
But in India, controversies have become an integral part of the film business. It doesn’t matter if the film is good or not artistically, Indians nowadays can find their ‘sentiments’ hurt at the drop of a hat!
Everything was going smoothly until an argument emerged among certain Indian viewers about a sequence in the film depicting two of the major actors enjoying an intimate moment while referring to Lord Krishna’s teachings in the Bhagavad Gita.
In the scene, Tatlock, who is shocked to discover the Bhagavad Gita on Oppenheimer’s shelf, asks him in the scenario whether he speaks Sanskrit. Oppenheimer replies that he is still learning. Tatlock asks about a particular line, which Oppenheimer interprets as “I am become death, destroyer of worlds,” and that’s it as far as the ‘Indian’ reference goes, in the movie.
People all around India were raving about this movie and it was highly appreciated when suddenly, some started grumbling about the scene. In other nations, this must be exceptional, yet it is conceivable in India. The news outlets who at first praised the film have now started involving it in a religious debate.
The central board of film certification (CBFC) could have eliminated the scene if there was anything objectionable about the film, but it has authorized it with that specific scene.
The complaint which, naturally rose from the right wing circles, did not get much attention on social media either. May be, it is an indication that now people are sick of the complaints of ‘sentiments getting hurt’ rather too often and on too trivial issues.
All said and done, Oppenheimer is getting rave reviews not only on India but all across the world.
