Diljit Dosanjh portrays human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra in Satluj
The sudden removal of a film featuring renowned Indian singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh from a streaming service has sparked controversy.
Satluj is based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who investigated claims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings during Punjab's separatist insurgency, before himself vanishing.
Khalra was later discovered to have been abducted and murdered. Several Punjab police officers were convicted for their involvement in his death.
The film was released on the ZEE5 platform on a Friday but was taken down two days later.
ZEE5 issued a statement saying the film would be unavailable in India "until further notice" due to "current developments" but did not specify what those developments were.
With ZEE5’s removal, the film is no longer officially accessible in India.
Completed in 2022, Satluj never had a theatrical release due to a prolonged dispute with India's film certification board.
Despite its brief availability, Satluj received positive reviews. The Hollywood Reporter called it "one of the finest Indian films of the year."
The Indian Express quoted a spokesperson for RSVP Movies, the film's producer, stating it was removed following government orders. The government has not publicly addressed the decision. The BBC has reached out to the federal information and broadcasting ministry for comment.
Diljit Dosanjh addressed the removal in a live social media video, expressing that he anticipated the film’s removal but not so swiftly.
"My love and respect to all of you. What I had already expected is exactly what happened. I thought the film might get banned when [government] offices opened on Monday, but I didn't know it would happen as early as Sunday evening."
Dosanjh explained that the uncertainty regarding the film’s release was why the makers kept promotions minimal.
"If we had promoted it, the film would definitely not have been released at all,"
he said.
Despite its removal, Dosanjh expressed relief that audiences were finally able to view the film after years of delays.
What is the film about?
Inspired by Khalra’s life, the film follows an activist investigating alleged human rights abuses during Punjab's separatist insurgency, one of the most violent periods in modern Indian history.
From the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, Sikh militants seeking an independent Khalistan fought Indian security forces in an insurgency that resulted in thousands of deaths.
As the government intensified its crackdown, human rights organizations accused security forces of arbitrary arrests, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings.
The authorities denied these allegations, stating that stringent measures were necessary to end the insurgency, which had largely diminished by the mid-1990s.
Khalra investigated claims that many victims were secretly cremated without their families' knowledge or proper documentation.
He disappeared in 1995 and was later found to have been abducted and murdered. Several Punjab police officers were convicted for his abduction and killing.
Completed in 2022, Satluj never released in cinemas in India due to a prolonged certification dispute.
Why did the film run into trouble?
The film experienced an unusually long and difficult path to release.
It was initially titled Ghallughara, a Punjabi term associated with some of the darkest events in Sikh history.
The term refers to mass killings of Sikhs by Mughal forces in 1746 and by Afghan ruler Ahmad Shah Durrani’s forces in 1762.
Director Honey Trehan stated that India's Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), the government body responsible for certifying films for public exhibition, requested the filmmakers change the title during the certification process but did not publicly provide reasons.
The film was subsequently retitled Punjab '95 — referencing the year Khalra disappeared.
The film was scheduled to premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, but the producers withdrew it while certification issues in India remained unresolved. The festival did not publicly connect the withdrawal to the certification dispute.
The dispute centered on numerous changes demanded by the CBFC. Trehan told the news website Scroll in 2025 that the board’s initial objections numbered 21 but eventually increased to 127 proposed cuts.
"Anything that was a reference to reality was to be removed,"
he said, arguing that such changes would fundamentally alter the film.
Trehan told New Lines Magazine last year that after several review rounds, the CBFC requested changes including a new title, removal of references to Khalra, and edits to scenes depicting police violence.
He added that the board also challenged some factual claims in the film and warned it could provoke law-and-order issues in Punjab.
The filmmakers challenged the CBFC’s demands in the Bombay High Court but later withdrew their petition, opting to accept the board’s changes in hopes of obtaining certification, The Hindu reported. Trehan later stated that the list of requested cuts and changes continued to grow despite efforts to resolve the dispute.
The CBFC has not publicly commented on Trehan’s account. The BBC has sought comments from the board.
These unresolved issues caused the project to remain in limbo for nearly three years.
Last week, the filmmakers announced that the film would bypass a theatrical release and instead premiere directly on ZEE5 under the new title Satluj.
On the day Satluj was released on ZEE5, Trehan said the film was released "without any cuts or compromises" in the form originally intended by the filmmakers, although they were unable to retain the title Punjab '95.
Films released in Indian cinemas must be certified by the CBFC under the Cinematograph Act, but those released directly on streaming platforms do not require its approval.
Streaming platforms like ZEE5 are governed by the Information Technology Rules, 2021, which mandate age ratings, a code of ethics, and a grievance mechanism, but do not exempt them from takedown orders under Indian law.
Following the film’s removal from the streaming platform for Indian viewers, Trehan told The Indian Express,
"I am at a loss right now. I don't know how to react to this development."
Meanwhile, ZEE5 stated it supports the film and the "creative vision behind it" and "hopes to bring it back soon," without providing a timeline.
Follow India on Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook.
