The statement came some hours after the film’s lead Diljit Dosanjh went live on Instagram after its removal from ZEE5. During the livestream, he said he was relieved that the film had finally reached viewers, even if it was available for only a short time.
“So now I feel a lot of relief that finally the film is with you. Now it is your film, now it cannot be stopped. This is the people’s film now, you can’t stop it now. I feel those behind this are innocent or uneducated to think that once something comes online, it can just be deleted like that,” he said.
He also urged those who had managed to download Satluj during its brief release to share it with. “Now you can share it among yourselves, it’s your film. But I’m happy and relieved that the film finally reached the audience. Many people have already downloaded it. Once anything lands online, it never gets deleted. I saw a video from Rajasthan where people are watching the film; I felt very happy. Please show it to your friends and everyone around you,” he said.
Satlujwhich was earlier titled Punjab 95is a film directed by Honey Trehan and stars Diljit, along with Arjun Rampal and Suvinder Vicky. It is a film based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra who shed light on Punjab police’s extra-judicial killing of about 25,000 people at the time of insurgency in the state.
The film has had a tussle with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for over three years with the latter demanding over 120 cuts in the film. On Friday evening, however, the film quietly landed on ZEE5 and received favourable reviews from both critics and audiences. It was however dropped from the platform by Sunday evening. ZEE5 wrote in an Instagram post, “In light of the current developments, Satluj will be unavailable in India until further notice. We remain committed to exploring every appropriate avenue through due process to bring the film back to our audiences at the earliest opportunity.”
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