'Satluj' pulled from Zee5: Diljit Dosanjh not worried since ‘downloading’ is an option

When the controversy-laden "Satluj" (earlier "Punjab' 95) landed on Zee5 on July 3 in, surprisingly, uncut form, many lauded the platform for their "bold" and "brave" decision — for having a "spine". However, on Sunday, Zee5, which platforms movies like "The Kerala Story" and "The Kashmir Files", officially announced that they are putting a "pause" on streaming "Satluj" for unexplained reasons. This was predictable. Many saw it coming from a mile away, including a "tension-free" lead star Diljit Dosanjh, who, in an Instagram live session, urged viewers to download the film which isn't streaming as of now in India, but available internationally.

The actor, who played slain activist Jaswant Singh Kalra, also shared a statement: "I challenge the darkness. Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra Ji. Satluj is what happened to Khalra Saab,"  directly equating the censorship and removal of the film to Kalra's fate. In the video, Diljit added that he and the filmmaking crew had anticipated the film’s availability in India would be short-lived — a takedown was expected on Monday, which prompted him to quietly tell fans over the weekend to stream and download it immediately. He also added that after a long battle for an uncut release, the team felt they had already won, while also expressing his disappointment over ongoing censorship, stating that the government is continuing its historical attempts to suppress Punjab's voice.

The controversy explained

The political sensitivity surrounding "Satluj" (originally Punjab '95) stems directly from its subject matter, which highlights unaccounted extrajudicial killings and mass cremations by the state police during the Punjab insurgency. While ZEE5 officially attributed the removal to unnamed "current developments," political analysts, Sikh organisations, and independent filmmakers attribute the decision to several distinct political factors.

The film is a biopic of Jaswant Singh Khalra, a revered human rights activist who uncovered the illegal cremation of thousands of unidentified bodies by the Punjab Police between 1984 and 1994. Khalra himself was abducted and murdered by police officers in 1995. The central government and state authorities have historically been highly sensitive about mainstream narratives that openly depict severe misconduct, systemic corruption, or human rights violations by Indian security forces.

When the film was first submitted to the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) under the title Ghallughara (meaning massacre), the board explicitly stated that the movie could incite violence and radicalise Sikh youth. The state fears that a raw, uncut depiction of the 1980s and 90s insurgency could reignite dormant anti-establishment or separatist sentiments in Punjab.

In an earlier interview with Frontline, director Honey Trehan said the government effectively uses the censor board to alter history, adding that their job is to "certify films, not to assess law and order implications." It was also revealed that over the film's three-year delay, the board demanded that the makers reduce the mentioned death toll from 25,000 to 4,000, remove all mentions of "Punjab" or specific districts like Tarn Taran, and erase phrases like "human rights" and "extrajudicial killings". Because the version released on ZEE5 bypassed these changes and streamed completely uncut, it directly clashed with the state-sanctioned historical narrative.

In India, the CBFC does not officially certify movies that premiere directly on streaming apps. Instead, streaming platforms operate under tight government IT rules and self-regulation codes. Because "Satluj" was released without the state's approved cuts, ZEE5 faced immediate vulnerability to legal penalties, administrative backlash, or public boycott campaigns, forcing them to issue a swift pull-down to protect their India operations.

The film's political reach extends beyond India. Its scheduled premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) was previously cancelled due to political pressure, as Canadian-Indian relations remain highly strained over the presence of a large Sikh diaspora and active pro-Khalistan political factions in Canada. The abrupt removal has provoked a broader political row, with opposition parties and bodies like the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) calling the ban an "assault on collective memory and truth." Meanwhile, ruling factions maintain that the film's unfiltered depiction risks disrupting peace and public order.

Earlier on ‘X’ (formerly Twitter), Jaswant Singh Khalra’s wife, Paramjit Kaur Khalra, expressed her relief on the film’s release, adding that it was the version approved by his family.

Produced by Honey Trehan, Abhishek Chaubey and Ronnie Screwvala under the banners MacGuffin Pictures and RSVP, “Satluj” features, aside from Diljit, Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in integral roles. The actors’ performances have already garnered much acclaim on social media.