Christopher Nolan, Matt Damon, Tom Holland and producer Emma Thomas attended the press conference of their film, The Odyssey, at a five-star hotel in South Mumbai. Bollywood Hungama was one of the privileged few to attend this press meet. Christopher Nolan, who shot The Dark Knight Rises (2012) in Jodhpur and Tenet (2020) in Mumbai, talked about his experience of filming in India, and a lot more.

The Odyssey Mumbai press conference: Christopher Nolan makes a Spider-Man: Far From Home joke; leaves Tom Holland and the audience in splits

Christopher Nolan was asked the reason behind a Mumbai premiere of the film, which was also the only fan premiere of the film in the world. He explained, “I first came to Mumbai years ago and attended a conference about the future of films. It helped me to get to know about the film culture here. I thought that it would be pretty crazy to get our films here to premiere for our Mumbai audiences. I was absolutely thrilled (when the Mumbai premiere plan fell in place).”

He also revealed, “We actually intended to come here during Tenet as we shot for the film in Mumbai. However, due to the pandemic, we couldn’t make it. So, finally, when we were able to, we were all thrilled as we wanted to do it for years.”

Nolan’s fan following in India is insane and he was asked about it. He replied, “I believe that films have a universal language. One of the reasons I enjoy about working on large-scale films is that you get to take them around the world and you get to connect with different cultures all across the world. When films really connect and have universal themes, which I hope The Odyssey does, it’s wonderful how it brings us all together. For us, to go on a road and travel and come here so, I was supposed to say, far from home!”

The last sentence was a pun on Tom Holland’s 2019 film, Spider-Man: Far From Home. It led to a lot of laughter and Nolan joked, “If you see only one Tom Holland film this summer…”

On a serious note, he said, “It’s completely thrilling to come to a completely different place and find commonality and entertainment together; find laughter and tears together. That’s what movies are all about. It’s been really thrilling to see films in the past connect with the Indian audiences.”

The Odyssey releases in cinemas on July 17.

Also Read: The Odyssey Mumbai press conference: Producer Emma Thomas admits, “It’s a PRIVILEGE to be able to release movies in India”; adds, “Talk in Hollywood is that people are not going to cinemas anymore. India shows that the FUTURE is in theatres”