Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer enters 100-crore club in India

Oppenheimer. Pic/Google

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer released globally on July 21. With Cillian Murphy in the titular role, the film also starred Matt Damon, Emily Blunt and Robert Downey Jr. Despite the SAG-AFTRA strike, it opened to great numbers at the box office. However, Oppenheimer got a greater push at the box office in India as compared to Barbie, which was also released on the same date.

Oppenheimer completed two weeks in theatres and is still running successfully despite getting competition from Karan Johar's Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani in Indian belts. The Christopher Nolan-directed spectacle has entered the coveted 100-crore club in the Indian markets and has become the highest-grossing Imax film for Hollywood in India.

The film is based on the 2005 biography American Prometheus by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. It orbits around the life of American theoretical physicist and polymath J. Robert Oppenheimer. The film is set against the backdrop of World War II. Robert Downey Jr. plays Lewis Strauss. Their rivalry was among the central themes of Oppenheimer.

Known to create films with minimum use of visual effects, Oppenheimer was made by Nolan without special techniques. He created the sets and visuals required for the film without the help of CGI. It was made for IMAX viewing. Due to public demand, Oppenheimer got midnight and post-midnight shows at several multiplexes across the country. Even 3 am shows went houseful in major cities.

Despite the thunderous response at the box office, Oppenheimer had to face its share of negative reactions. A section of people slammed the film for showing an intimate scene that featured Bhagavad Gita. The scene was picturised on Cillian Murphy's Oppenheimer and Florence Pugh's Jean Talock who shared an intimate moment for the first time in the film. She looked through his bookshelf and spotted a copy of the Bhagavad Gita. Jean asked Oppenheimer if he can read Sanskrit. She then asked him to read from the book while having sex.

Oppenheimer is by Universal Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros. Discovery. The film also stars Josh Hartnett, Casey Affleck, Rami Malek, and Kenneth Branagh.