Anurag Thakur Raps Censor Board Officials for ‘Oppenheimer’ Clearance: Reports

There has also been social media commentary on the Board purportedly having added black CGI clothing on Florence Pugh’s body in a scene where he is allegedly naked in the original film.

New Delhi: Several news outlets have reported quoting sources that Union information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur has rapped censor board officials over clearance granted to Christopher Nolan’s film Oppenheimer, which has been the subject of criticism from certain quarters over an intimate scene involving a character reading out a Sanskrit text.

Thakur has, according to reports, sought an explanation from the Central Board of Film Certification – commonly referred to as the ‘censor board’ – as to why it allowed the film to be shown in its current form.

Indian Express quoted unnamed sources as having said that Thakur has even asked Board officials to get that scene removed. Action could even be taken against those who cleared the film.

The scene involves actors, Cillian Murphy and Florence Pugh, playing the ‘father of the atomic bomb’ J. Robert Oppenheimer and his lover Jean Tatlock, respectively. At a point, Tatlock’s character is shown to hold up a book with Sanskrit writing in it, and Oppenheimer is shown to read from it in an intimate scene. The book is purportedly the Bhagvad Gita, although this is not mentioned in the film.

There has also been social media commentary on the Board purportedly having added black CGI clothing on Florence Pugh’s body in a scene where she is allegedly naked in the original film.

Oppenheimer is one of the most hyped releases in Indian and global theatres this year and is reported to have raked in upwards of Rs 50 crores in the country already.

Among those who have raised public objections against the depiction are Chief Information Commissioner Uday Mahurkar and Congress leader Abhishek Manu Singhvi.

Mahurkar wrote an open letter to Nolan on behalf of his ‘Save Culture, Save India’ Foundation, in which he wrote, “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.”

Singhvi said the scene could be violative of the Indian Penal Code.

“Believe in free speech but a scene in #Oppenheimer concerning #BhagwatGita is just ignorance esp with there being no historical evidence of it, maybe violative of IPC. Find Anurag Thakur’s concern funny as he should ask how it passed CBFC in the 1st place,” Singhvi had tweeted yesterday.