In a country where film censorship battles rarely end well for the filmmaker, one just backfired in spectacular fashion.
Satluj, Honey Trehan's human rights drama starring Diljit Dosanjh, was pulled from ZEE5 days after launch in India. The film is based on the life of activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who investigated enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by the Punjab Police during the insurgency of the early 1990s. It had premiered on the platform on July 3 and vanished two days later.
The removal followed a government direction issued under India's Information Technology Rules, 2021. Sources told the media the directive cited concerns related to national security and law and order. A committee constituted by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry reportedly upheld the ban, concluding that the film "goes against India's sovereignty."
What happened next surprised everyone involved. Community screenings began appearing across Punjab, with villagers, sports clubs, gurdwara committees and NRIs funding LED screens, sound systems and refreshments. From Moga and Ludhiana to Barnala, Sangrur and Amritsar, residents gathered in gurdwara complexes and village squares. Sikh religious bodies hosted events in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Jammu.
Copies downloaded while the film was briefly available had circulated privately, and the full movie appeared on several Facebook pages. Social media users uploaded it to YouTube in defiance. One link would go down, and another popped up within minutes.
The project originally carried the title Ghallughara before becoming Punjab '95 and, finally, Satluj. It endured 127 cut requests from the Central Board of Film Certification. Its planned 2023 world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival was also pulled. Trehan and his team eventually bypassed the censor board entirely by going straight to streaming.
Dosanjh himself revealed the team had deliberately avoided promoting the film, fearing publicity might prevent it from being released at all. In a translated Instagram video, the actor said: "The thing I already sensed on Friday, that this might happen. I felt that the film would probably be banned on Monday, once offices opened, but I had no idea it would happen already on Sunday evening."
Trehan told ThePrint that Dosanjh quoted only Re 1 for the role, adding: "Had Diljit not been there, this film would not have existed." When asked about his fee, the singer reportedly replied, "How can I charge to play someone like Khalra?"
Produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP Movies and MacGuffin Pictures, Satluj also stars Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan. The Hollywood Reporter called it "one of the finest Indian films of the year."
Former Punjab Special Chief Secretary Karanbir Singh Sidhu acknowledged the ban may have produced the opposite effect, noting that the film spread widely through piracy, WhatsApp and private screenings. That is, perhaps, the story within the story here. A government tried to bury a movie, and the movie only got louder.
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