Chris Nolan On Why Mumbai Was A Special Stop For The Odyssey

At The Odyssey press conference in Mumbai with Director Christopher Nolan and the cast.

“We hope you are enjoying your time in Mumbai.”

That warm welcome set the tone for the morning as Christopher Nolan, Tom Holland and Matt Damon smiled and nodded in agreement before the questions began at the media interaction on Saturday.

The trio are in the city for a special screening and press conference ahead of The Odyssey‘s global release on July 17.

Before the session began, visitors casually passing through the plush hotel lobby suddenly paused in surprise when Nolan and Holland walked in. Phones popped out instantly to capture whatever moments they could.

The media was asked to wait in a designated area on the first floor, where we were told Nolan and the cast would join us after the photo-op.

After the brief appearance at the film’s screening on Friday, July 10, the dedicated half-hour conversation on Saturday promised to offer more interesting insights into The Odyssey.

Bringing The Odyssey to India

The warmly-lit banquet room was lined with neatly arranged chairs, and a giant digital poster of The Odyssey featuring Damon’s battle-ready Odysseus and the iconic Trojan Horse.

Just as the anticipation settled in, a lady stepped on stage with a gentle warning: ‘No phone sounds, no camera clicks during the session.’

It seemed like Nolan’s well-known ‘no-phone’ rule from his sets had extended to the press meet, too. A very Nolan touch — ensuring everyone stays firmly in the moment!

What came as a pleasant surprise was the event starting right on time. A great lesson in punctuality for Bollywoodwallahs.

The team arrived one by one: First Producer Emma Thomas, then Holland, then Damon, and finally, the man himself. Nolan grabbed the mic the moment he sat down, as if he knew exactly how it’s done.

Asked why Mumbai was chosen as one of the stops on the film’s global tour, Nolan responded in his signature calm and composed manner.

“I have never been anywhere in the world with an appreciation of what movies can be and what they should be for audiences and to me it seemed crazy that we wouldn’t be bringing our films here to premiere for Mumbai audiences and I am absolutely thrilled to be able to do this,” he said.

Nolan recalled first visiting Mumbai around the release of Dunkirk in 2017 for a conference on the future of cinema, organised by Mumbai-based filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, whom he referred to as a friend.

The visit left a lasting impression, and Nolan said he had wanted to bring one of his films to the city ever since.

Interestingly, the venue for press event, The Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, was just a short walk from Café Mondegar, the iconic Colaba landmark where Nolan had filmed scenes for Tenet with John David Washington and our very own Dimple Kapadia.

“We actually intended to come with Tenet originally because we filmed here in Mumbai and then because of the pandemic we weren’t able to and so finally we are actually able to. It’s a thrill, we have wanted this for years. And Mumbai feels special.”

‘What Is Wrong With You?’

The event itself stood out for a special reason.

It was one of those rare press conferences where journalists were actually given the space to do their job.

Unlike the usual high-decibel Bollywood media events, this one unfolded with a refreshing calm. There were no influencers chasing selfies, no unnecessary chaos, and no shouting over one another. Just a small room filled with reporters and filmmakers talking about cinema.

Damon, who plays the eponymous hero Odysseus in the film, shared the moment when he realised the scale of Nolan’s ambitious vision. It happened while filming the fall of Troy, with burning buildings, thousands of performers and a massive action sequence unfolding around him.

“Somebody ran past me on fire just through the crowd,” he recalled with a smile. “Through this incredible, beautiful chaos, we hear Chris shout ‘Cut’ and everything stops and then Hoyte (van Hoytema, cinematographer) takes the camera off his shoulder and hands it off and turns to me and says, ‘You realise this is only a flashback.’ That was my moment where I went, this is really big. This is as big as it gets.”

Damon then turned to Emma Thomas and jokingly recalled, “I said to Emma early on, ‘I can’t believe you decided to produce this movie. What is wrong with you?'”

The comment had everyone on stage laughing.

Throughout the conversation, Tom Holland kept reaching for his glass of water as if the boy was struggling with Mumbai’s humidity after the rains unexpectedly took a break. At one point, he filled it up and casually poured some for his on-screen father, Matt Damon, too. A sweet gesture that matched their father-son dynamic, I thought.

Holland revealed his first day on set was simply a visit, but it ended up becoming the moment he remembered most.

“We were in Morocco,” he recalled. “I walked over the brow of this sand dune and it felt more like I had gone back in time than I had walked onto a film set.”

“I remember an AD (assistant director) said to me, ‘just go that way and eventually you will find the crew,’ and I remember walking for what felt like miles and then I saw Matt and Chris at the epicentre of this massive thing and I just remember that day pinching myself and telling myself to take this all in because this is unlike anything that has ever been done before and probably ever again.”

How Chris Nolan Adapted The Odyssey

Talking about adapting a story as iconic as The Odyssey, Nolan said the focus was not on chasing expectations but on creating the best version of the film he could.

“We realised that you just have to make the best film you can and put forward your interpretation,” he said, adding that he hoped audiences would appreciate the respect shown to the original source.

When asked about his own literature background, Nolan smiled and admitted, “I studied literature at university, but not very well. So I don’t really have much of a literature background, but on paper I do.”

The production for The Odyssey stretched across several countries, with crews joining in Greece, Morocco, Iceland, Italy and beyond. Nolan credited that global collaboration for making the impossible feel manageable.

Matt Damon’s Indian Director Pick

Damon described The Odyssey as a “privilege” and mentioned that the film has become one of the most meaningful projects of his career.

When he asked if he has any Indian filmmaker on his wishlist, he didn’t take long to name someone who has been on his list for a long time — Shekhar Kapur.

Recalling a missed opportunity from his career, Damon said he still hoped to work with the filmmaker someday.

“I remember when I couldn’t do The Four Feathers for some reason, and I was really upset about that because I think I was signed up for a Bourne movie,” he said. “So he has always been on my list. I would like to have another go. That’s like a 20-year-old little debt I have been carrying around in my pocket.”

The Odyssey arrives in Indian cinemas on July 17.