It seems that the freedom of artistic expression has become coupled with controversies as makers of the films, both in India and in the Western world think that a mockery could be easily made of the traditional, cultural and spiritual aspects of the Hindus but would go without any implication as the display of outrage is very much limited on the part of the Hindus. Such instances could be seen recently in the industry of film and drama with the recent release of ‘Adipurush’ film by Om Raut that openly turned one of the most revered epics of Ramayana into a mockery by making revered divine figures such as lord ‘Hanuman’ and revered characters such as ‘Ravana’ acting in an extremely cheap and base manner and given them abusive dialogues to be mouthed. This film saw a massive uprising in India and all over the world over the dialogues and scenes that invited controversy. As soon as this issue was somehow tackled effectively by the legal system of India, another incident stole our attention towards the recently released English movie that is called ‘Oppenheimer’ is a movie that is based on the life, thoughts and struggles of the ‘Father of Atomic Bomb’, Oppenheimer. This movie has been directed by veteran film director Christopher Nolan. With being released all over the world and garnering a lot of appreciation and wealth throughout, especially, in India, this film has not failed to contribute to the game of religious controversy by mentioning that Oppenheimer, who was a Sanskrit scholar besides being a nuclear scientist, was inspired to manufacture the atomic bomb after reading the Bhagavad Gita. Recently, another scene has surfaced, where the character was seen having physical intimacy with another character while reciting the most revered and holy text in the Hindu pantheon.

Physical Intimacy and Bhagavad Gita: The Clash between Immorality and Morality

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the most highly regarded and holy texts in the Hindu pantheon as it is a written record of the various conversations that took place between the Lord of the World, Sri Krishna and his friend and warrior Arjun, who was facing the dilemma of whether to kill his cousin brothers Kauravas, who were on the opposing side of the fight. It is believed to be imparted to Arjun by the Lord of the Three Realms, Sri Krishna, who wanted Arjun to come out of his fears and strive towards upholding the path of truth and righteousness, even if it means fighting against his cousin brothers on the field of battle. It was believed to have been heard by every atom of the world as God revealed himself in his divine form of ‘Narayan’ to Arjun. It consists of profound teachings and knowledge on morality, spirituality, ethical values and the ultimate nature of the existence of humans in this world. These teachings that have been imparted many eras ago are still being cherished among several people all over the world, especially, by those, who subscribe to the Hindu faith. This has shaped their perspective of the world and provided them with guidance in various aspects of their life.

Unfortunately, it seems that the veteran director Christopher Nolan felt that using the holy text in an abusive manner is his birthright and the linking of a scene of physical intimacy with the reading of the Bhagavad Gita is a display of his artistic prowess, free-thinking and modern interpretation of a religion of, which he probably has the least idea about. The scene that has garnered flak from Hindus all over the world opens with the character called ‘Oppenheimer’ that has been portrayed by the actor Cillian Murphy, slowly and dramatically engaging in a moment of physical intimacy with a psychologist called ‘Jean Tatler’ that was portrayed by Florence Pugh. While the two characters were engaging themselves in a salacious moment, it was seen that the female character of the psychologist is persuading the male character of Oppenheimer to read out some verses of the Bhagavad Gita to which he obliges by reading out a few passages and dramatically stopping at the line “Aham Kaala Asmi” or “Now I become Death, the Destroyer of the World”. This has enraged Hindus all over the world as first, the character has made a wrong interpretation of the Sanskrit lines and secondly, he was reading the Bhagavad Gita while performing an act that is considered materialistic and ungodly that teaches the entire mankind against materialism and immorality and advices people to be on the path of perpetual morality, spirituality and consciousness of God.

The Film Receives Serious Flak in India

The film has received serious flak from the Indian audience for this immoral and base portrayal of the Bhagavad Gita. However, the most unfortunate thing about the entire incident was the permission that was granted to the makers of the movie by the Central Bureau of Film Certification of India (CBFC) to run their movie in this predominantly Hindu country. Still more unfortunate is the movie grossing a collection of almost 30 billion rupees at the box office collection on Friday after having run in the theatres of India for one week full. Uday Mahurkar, who is holding the post of the ‘Information Commissioner with the government of India (GoI), has posted an angry tweet on his Twitter account addressing Christopher Nolan and describing the entire scene and the misinterpretation of the Bhagavad Gita as an attack on Hinduism that has been deliberately carried out to hurt the religious sentiments of a particular community known for their extreme level of tolerance. “We urge, on behalf of billion Hindus and the timeless tradition of lives being transformed by revered Geeta, to do all that is needed to uphold the dignity of their revered book and remove this scene from your film across the world. Should you choose to ignore this appeal it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilisation. Eagerly await needful action (sic)” tweeted Uday Mahurkar, who is also the founder of an organization that is called ‘Save Culture Save India Foundation’.

It is widely believed that J. Oppenheimer had got the inspiration to create an atomic bomb after he read one line from a passage of the Bhagavad Gita, “Now I become Death, the Destroyer of the World”. Although according to the scholars in Hinduism such as Devdutt Pattanaik, the exact line in Sanskrit would be “Aham Kaala Asmi”, which if translated to English would be “Now I become the Time, the Destroyer of the World”. As we all know that Tim is the creator and destroyer at the same time. Probably, the Western makers of the film did not grasp the exact meaning of the line and felt that the manufactured atomic bomb could collaborate with an excuse for death in the backdrop.

The Misuse of Art

An instance such as the sexual intercourse scene in the movie has hurt the feelings of billions of Hindus throughout the world and tweets such as “One is perplexed as to how the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) could approve the movie with this scene. A divine gift to human civilisation by Bhagwan Sri Krishna, the Bhagwad Geeta, is one of the most revered scriptures of Hinduism. Geeta has been the inspiration for countless sanyasis, brahmacharis and legends who lived a life of self-control and perform selfless noble deeds,” started circulating on various social media accounts addressing the makers of the movie. Even the actors were called out for having used the holy text for such a scene. Hindus have been enraged with several of them calling for a ban and boycotting of the movie. The question that arises is whether artistic freedom allows someone to make fun of others’ religion, culture and traditions. Several Hindus have asked whether the same could have been done with other religions or not.
What is more surprising is how could the Indian censor board grant permission for such a baseless movie to be run in theatres. This cannot be termed as artistic freedom but rather a deliberate belittling of a particular community that has significantly contributed towards the development of the world since time immemorial. Still, we hope that conscience strikes the movie makers and the censor board to make the movie more presentable in a manner that would win the hearts of the viewers and not break them.