New Delhi: Nearly two days after Diljit Dosanjh’s film Satluj was removed from streaming platforms, PTI reported that the government directed the OTT service ZEE5. According to the report, the biographical drama was taken down citing “security concerns” and obligations under the IT Rules 2021.
The content released and available on OTT platforms falls under the purview of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and is regulated under the provisions of Part III of the Information Technology Rules, 2021.
The makers of the film had applied for CBFC certification in 2022 under the original title Punjab 95, but did not accept the 127 cuts suggested and instead released the film online, a government official told PTI.
The Centre has also constituted a high-level inter-departmental committee to examine the content of the film, according to a Hindustan Times report cited by Scroll.
Meanwhile, ZEE5 shared a post on X saying it is doing everything possible to bring Satluj back and urged audiences not to support piracy.
“We are hopeful and doing everything we can. Please do not support piracy. We remain committed to exploring every possible avenue to bring Satluj back to you,” ZEE5 wrote.
While the film is currently unavailable for streaming online, filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma in an X post on Tuesday said that he had “just” watched Satluj, directed by Honey Trehan, and called it “not a film, but a deep wound that will never heal.” Varma described it as a documentation of one of the darkest chapters of Indian history. He also praised Diljit Dosanjh and Arjun Rampal for their performances, adding that Trehan, instead of sensationalising the horror, unfolds the story like a slow-burn investigative thriller through bureaucratic files, cremation records, and hushed conversations.
“Satluj is a film that has to be seen, shown, discussed, debated and not ENCOUNTERED like the victims in the film. My appeal to all the powers is, please don’t do to Satluj what has been done to Jaswant Singh Khalra,” Varma wrote.
The film is based on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra and his family, depicting their struggles during the Punjab insurgency in the 1990s. The main controversy revolves around the figure of 25,000 deaths and disappearances. Several members of the film industry and politicians have reacted to the takedown of the film. Recently, director Anurag Basu compared Honey Trehan to Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi, who was jailed, placed under house arrest, and banned from filmmaking for several years.
“I never thought a day would come when Honey Trehan would face what Jafar Panahi faced in Iran,” Anurag Basu wrote on X.
While the director and actors of the film have been actively expressing their criticism of the takedown online, the film’s co-writer Niren Bhatt in an interview said that he believes someone in the establishment has a massive problem with the film. According to him, the real issue is the lack of communication, as for years there has been complete silence from the CBFC, which has never clearly told the makers what exactly it finds objectionable in the film.
“I firmly believe there is absolutely nothing objectionable in the movie. There is nothing political about the film; it’s a human rights story,” he said in an interview with Variety.
“If The Kashmir Files can exist, why can’t we exist without being labelled tools for international forces? Why is our film the chosen one that will suddenly be misused by extreme elements? You cannot jump to far-fetched, paranoid conclusions just to suppress a straightforward biography. It makes absolutely no sense,” Bhatt added.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)