Diljit Dosanjh's Satluj Removed From ZEE5 India Just Days After OTT Release

For the fans of Diljit Dosanjh, the roller coaster ride of his highly controversial film Satluj has taken another incredibly frustrating turn. The film was abruptly pulled from ZEE5’s library in India just 48 hours after its release, leaving viewers completely in the dark.

To understand the big fuss this sudden removal is causing, you have to look at the very heavy history behind this particular project.

The movie censorship tried to bury

The film was originally titled Punjab ‘95 and has been languishing in a torturous censorship purgatory for nearly four years. The film directed by Honey Trehan is based on the true and tragic story of Jaswant Singh Khalra, a bank manager turned human rights activist, who investigated the disappearance and mass illegal cremation of thousands of unidentified Sikh youths by the police during the militancy period in Punjab. Khalra himself was kidnapped and killed in 1995.

Due to the sensitive political nature of the subject, the movie was given a whopping 127 demanded cuts by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) at the beginning. The board also wanted the lead character renamed, references to the Punjab Police removed and scenes with the Indian flag deleted. The director flatly refused. "I would rather take my name off the picture than mutilate the story," he said.

The 48 Hour Release Win

Against all odds, the film quietly skipped a theatrical release and went straight to ZEE5 under its new title, Satluj (named after the river that runs through the region).

Diljit Dosanjh hosted an Instagram Live right after the movie’s release to celebrate and assured emotional fans that the team stayed true to their guns and the version streaming on ZEE5 was completely uncut and untouched, just the cinematic vision they shot years ago. He added: “If we had made one creative compromise, I wouldn’t even have advertised it.

The Sudden Vanishing

And the victory was very short-lived. Indian subscribers trying to stream the film were getting error screens.

In a very diplomatic statement, ZEE5 quickly clarified that Satluj is unavailable in India “until further notice” due to some unspecified “current developments”. The platform has praised the huge response from the audience and has also made it clear that they “stand firmly by Satluj and the creative vision behind it". However, the sudden block has not been linked to any fresh legal challenges, pressure from the government, or a sudden intervention of the censor board.

The streamer says it is investigating “due process” to bring back the film, but for now, one of the most potent and awaited Punjabi biographical dramas is locked up once again.