In an exclusive interview, Christopher Nolan talks about leaving his films open to interpretation
Natasha Coutinho (HINDUSTAN TIMES; July 15, 2026)

Oscar-winning filmmaker Christopher Nolan arrived in Mumbai over the weekend for the first-ever India premiere of one of his films, The Odyssey. The director behind The Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017) and Oppenheimer (2023) remains one of the few filmmakers whose name alone can turn a movie into a global cinematic event. Known for pairing ambitious storytelling with immersive big-screen spectacle, Nolan spoke exclusively to HT City during his visit about The Odyssey, audience interpretations and the enduring appeal of cinema. Excerpts:

Your films continue to spark debate and multiple interpretations years after their release. Has any interpretation ever surprised you?
(Laughs) The fun thing is that if you leave room for interpretation, you engage the audience more. It is also important that I don’t judge those interpretations. I accept the idea that I’m putting things out there for people to make their own. With The Odyssey, it is no different. I make films for the cinema audience. Thousands of people have worked on the film, but it isn’t finished until it goes out to the audience and they tell me what they think.

What was it like to see Interstellar find a new audience in India after its re-release?
It’s interesting to see how things emerge in culture, when a film first releases and then over time. With Interstellar, which was re-released in India not so long ago, it has been very interesting to see its relationship with the audience evolve. That’s pretty satisfying as a filmmaker.

At a time when short-form content dominates, how important are films that celebrate cinema in its truest form?
What I like about telling an adventure story and putting it on the biggest screens possible is that this generation of young filmgoers may not have seen a film made on this scale before.

I see young audiences engage with cinema in incredible ways. I look at the work of Curry Barker with Obsession and Kane Parsons with The Backrooms. With The Odyssey, I’m hoping to open cinema screens to a large-scale story and a style of filmmaking they may not be familiar with. We’ll see how that goes.
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Filmmaker Christopher Nolan’s bond with India goes back several years. He shot portions of The Dark Knight Rises (2012) in Jodhpur and Tenet (2020) in Mumbai. This visit marked a first of another kind: Nolan had never before travelled to the country to launch and promote one of his films.

You’ve said Indian audiences celebrate cinema. Any interesting visuals you observed this visit?
It was fun to be at the fan screening of The Odyssey in Mumbai, which is one of the first audiences in the world to see the film. Emma (Thomas, producer), Matt (Damon, actor), Tom (Holland, actor) and I came and said hi to the fans at the end. We took a selfie with the audience, and it was remarkable to see hundreds of them with their IMAX camera popcorn buckets.

You, too, are celebrated as one of the most loved international filmmakers in the country...
To have fans in India respond to my work is a great thrill and a huge honour.

This is not your first visit to India. How has your perception of the country evolved over the years?
I love coming here. I’ve had the privilege of working here a couple of times and engaging with local crews. Working in Mumbai, particularly on Tenet, was a wonderful experience.

While driving from the airport, I saw some of the locations and it brought back happy memories. It
was really nice to be back, but it was especially meaningful to return to launch and promote a new film. I’ve never had the chance to do that here, though I’ve wanted to for many years. It’s exciting to be premiering a film here in India.