The removal of Diljit Dosanjh’s Satluj from ZEE5 has sparked political criticism and a wider debate on censorship. While parties and the SGPC demanded its restoration, Dosanjh said he expected the move and urged audiences to watch the film wherever possible
Published Date – 6 July 2026, 09:52 PM
New Delhi: Diljit Dosanjh’s Satluj, which chronicles the life of an activist in Punjab during the turbulent 1990s and has been taken off OTT, was at the centre of a furious debate on Monday, with political parties and the SGPC pushing for the film’s release and the actor-singer asking people to watch it wherever and however they can.
The film, which was stuck with the censors for more than three years, was released uncut on ZEE5 on Friday and removed on Sunday evening. While Dosanjh said this was bound to happen and the film had already been downloaded by many, ZEE5 appealed to people not to support piracy.
The matter quickly gained political traction, with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), Congress and the state’s ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) condemning the film’s removal from the OTT platform and saying Punjab must confront its past. People should know what happened during those days in Punjab, said Kulwant Singh Manan, chief secretary of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
“The film should not have been removed from the platform. The government should ensure that people see this film. What is wrong if reality is shown and the public comes to know what happened during those days in Punjab?” Manan told PTI over the phone.
The Honey Trehan-directed film, originally titled Punjab ’95, features Dosanjh as human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who was abducted in 1995 and was never seen again. The director and actor refused to release it with the 127 cuts suggested by the Central Board of Film Certification.
On Friday, the movie quietly arrived on ZEE5 without any cuts but with a different title and zero promotion, which Dosanjh said was because they did not want to spoil whatever little chance the film had.
Criticising the film’s removal, SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said, “This is not mere censorship, it is an assault on our collective memory, truth and freedom of expression… Punjab deserves to confront its past with honesty, not suppression.”
Senior Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira echoed him.
“I strongly condemn the removal of Satluj, enacted by Diljit Dosanjh, about police brutality in abducting and eliminating Prof Jaswant Singh Khalra, a human rights activist, in 1995.”
AAP leader and MP Malvinder Singh Kang said censorship becomes its most dangerous weapon when a nation begins to fear its own history.
AAP’s Baltej Pannu said, “The younger generation wants to know what happened in Punjab during 1978, 1984, the 1990s and other crucial periods. If they are denied books and documentaries, films become an important way of preserving historical truth.”
When asked to comment on the film’s removal from OTT, Punjab BJP chief Kewal Singh Dhillon said, “I am finding out the reason. We are taking up the matter.”
In an expansive session on Instagram Live from the US, where he is on tour, Dosanjh expressed his anguish.
“I had a feeling on Friday that something like this would happen. This was already on my mind. It is not something to be shocked about (the ban). I thought it would be banned on Monday when the offices opened…
“But I did not have any idea that it would happen on Sunday evening itself. We did not even promote the film, we released it just like that. If we had promoted it, it would not have lasted even two days. But I am satisfied that people have seen the film, it has reached them,” Dosanjh said in Punjabi.
A day after ZEE5 issued a statement informing viewers that it was no longer available in India, Dosanjh said he was happy that many people had seen the film or downloaded it.
“It was very important that it should reach you and that has happened… I am thankful that what we wanted to say, and the way we wanted to say it, has been conveyed. It is your film and you can watch it the way you want to,” he said.
“This was the only way to release the film… without saying anything because this was bound to happen,” he said, adding that the more one tries to stop the film, the more popular it will become, as nothing disappears from the internet, not even a voice note sent on WhatsApp.
ZEE5 had a slightly different take.
“We are doing our bit to bring Satluj back. Please do yours – don’t support piracy. We remain committed to exploring every possible avenue to bring Satluj back to you,” it said in an Instagram post.
On Sunday night, it said, “In light of the current developments, Satluj will be unavailable in India until further notice…”
The streamer did not specify what it meant by “current developments”, but said the response to the film had been overwhelming and that it fully backed the creative conviction behind the movie.
Satluj delves into the life of Khalra, who investigated the cremation of thousands of unidentified bodies in Punjab during a 10-year period from 1984 to 1994. He disappeared in 1995.
In 2005, four Punjab Police personnel were convicted of his abduction and murder and sentenced to seven years in prison. Two years later, the Punjab and Haryana High Court enhanced their sentence to life imprisonment.
In 2023, the movie was scheduled to have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) but was removed from the line-up without any official statement from the organisers.
Punjab ’95 was slated for worldwide release on February 7, 2025, without any cuts except in India. But that release also did not happen.
The film is produced by Trehan, Abhishek Chaubey and Ronnie Screwvala under the banners MacGuffin Pictures and RSVP.
It also features Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in key roles.
The matter also found an echo on social media.
Comedian Kunal Kamra was among those who commented, tagging former CBFC chief Prasoon Joshi and saying Khalra had been abducted again, “this time by CBFC”.
Filmmaker Onir questioned the film industry’s silence over the film’s removal from OTT.
“And once again the industry at large is silent about what should alarm us all, and it affects us all. How can we surrender our right to tell stories… especially such powerful, sensitive stories,” Onir wrote.
Filmmaker Anurag Basu said on X that he never imagined Trehan would face something similar to what Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi faced in his country.
