Florence Pugh 'Oppenheimer' Nude Scenes Censored in Absolutely Bizarre Way

Nude scenes in the new movie Oppenheimer have apparently been censored in the most unconventional of ways for select markets in Asia.

Universal Pictures' R-rated movie, which bowed internationally on July 21, features Cillian Murphy in the titular role as theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, who had a pivotal role in developing the first nuclear weapons. Emily Blunt portrays his wife, Katherine, in the Christopher Nolan-directed picture.

Oppenheimer earned over $80 million in the U.S. on its opening weekend, coming second to fellow new release Barbie, which took in a towering total of $155 million. With international earnings factored in, Oppenheimer's overall opening tally stands at $93.7 million to Barbie's $182 million.

As reviews and reactions to the film roll in, Twitter users in India discussed how the film had been censored for the market. A nude scene featuring cast member Florence Pugh as psychiatrist and physician Jean Tatlock was singled out.

According to a screenshot shared by a Twitter user, Pugh's nudity was concealed by the post-production painting on of a black dress.

"The best ever CG work in India award goes to the Indian censor board for Florence Pugh black dress in #Oppenheimer," they captioned an image of a covered-up Pugh, who was shown sitting in a chair.

Another Twitter user stated that this was not unique to India. "This wasn't the Indian censor board, this was straight from the studio," they wrote. "Indonesia has the exact same censorship when I saw it on Imax."

"Bangladesh too," another chimed in. "It seems Universal themselves made a censored version for certain territories. Wonder how Nolan feels about that."

Another Twitter user said that Oppenheimer appeared to be "self censored," due to its similar runtime to the U.S. version. "There are jerk cuts, and black spray paint (I don't know a better way to explain) on censored stuff and only one single scene which is blurred," they explained.

Meanwhile, a notably lengthy sex scene between Murphy's Oppenheimer and Pugh's Tatlock has sparked outrage from within the Indian market for the inclusion of scared Hindu scripture.

During the scene in question, Oppenheimer is asked by his lover to read aloud from the Bhagavad Gita as they have sex. In granting Tatlock's request, he recites a line he is noted for using to describe his development of nuclear weapons, saying: "I am become death, destroyer of worlds."

Uday Mahurkar, founder of the Save Culture Save India Foundation, has condemned the film, calling it an "anti-Hindu conspiracy" in an open letter to director Nolan that was shared on Twitter over the weekend.

"We do not know the motivation and logic behind this unnecessary scene on life of a scientist," Mahurkar wrote. "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.

"We are living in a very polarized world. The agencies, media, politics and even your Hollywood film industry is very sensitive about the fact that Quran and Islam is not depicted in any manner that may offend the value system of a common Muslim, even if you make something based on Islamist terrorism. There is a term that has become popular for those who attempt to cross this red line—Islamophobia.

"Why should not the same courtesy be also extended to Hindus?"

Mahurkar went on to tell Nolan that he has "great admiration in India for your art of filmmaking. We believe that if you remove this scene and do the needful to win hearts of Hindus, it will go a long way to establish your credentials as a sensitized human being and gift you friendship of billions of nice people.

"We urge, on behalf of billion Hindus and timeless tradition of lives being transformed by revered Geeta, to do all that is needed to uphold dignity of their revered book and remove this scene from your film across world.

"Should you choose to ignore this appeal it would be deemed as a deliberate assault on Indian civilization."

The film has also received criticism for the casting of Peaky Blinders star Murphy as the Jewish lead character, despite not being Jewish himself.

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Universal Pictures and Nolan via email for comment.