The government invoked security grounds to ask OTT platform Zee5 to pull down Diljit Dosanjh’s Satluj from July 5 after it was released on July 3. As the film’s theatrical release was hanging in balance for almost three years due to non-issuance of certificate by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), the producers released it on Zee5. The CBFC had objected to portions of the content and ordered more than a hundred cuts in the film, which was earlier titled Punjab 95, based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.
Khalra uncovered alleged abuse of human rights by Punjab police in its fight against terrorism before disappearing in 1995. Four policemen were later convicted for his abduction and murder.
After the CBFC refused to clear the film without all the cuts offered by it, the film’s producers decided to forgo theatrical release and instead go in for OTT release in view of content regulations for OTT being more relaxed than for the big screen. The film, which was banned was titled Punjab 95. The producers released the film under the new title of Satluj on Zee5. It remained available for two days on the platform, after which the government, using its powers, asked Zee5 to remove the film due to security reasons.
Incidentally, relatives of many victims of the human rights violations in Punjab were not in favour of the ban as, according to them, it highlights a painful chapter of Punjab’s history.
