Satluj film on Khalra released, pulled in India by Jul 5

Who: The film's director Honey Trehan and its lead, Diljit Dosanjh, who plays the human rights defender Jaswant Singh Khalra; the streaming service ZEE5; the Central Board of Film Certification; and the Union government. The SGPC, Akali Dal, Congress and AAP spoke against the takedown.

What: Satluj, first titled Punjab '95, went up on ZEE5 on July 3, 2026, uncut and without promotion. Scroll's review called it "one of the sharpest political films in recent memory". The film had been held by the censors for more than three years. ThePrint reported that the board suggested 127 cuts, which Trehan and Dosanjh refused. Trehan has said the revising committee first demanded 21 cuts, that the makers agreed to them in talks, and that the demands then kept growing until the list passed 127. Its world premiere at the Toronto festival in 2023 was cancelled without explanation. Ensaaf said the censors had reportedly sought to change Khalra's name, remove references to the Punjab Police and the names of cremation sites, and alter the title.

On the evening of Sunday, July 5, ZEE5 told viewers the film was "unavailable in India until further notice" because of "current developments". Unnamed government sources told PTI that the Centre had directed ZEE5 to remove it, citing "security concerns" and the IT Rules 2021. Reports say the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting acted under Section 69A of the IT Act, read with Part III of the IT Rules, 2021, which governs online streaming, not the CBFC (Inc42, citing the Hindustan Times; Sabrang). No published order has been seen, and the reports give no exact date for it.

The ministry then referred the film to an inter-departmental committee under the IT Rules, with members from ministries including Home Affairs, Electronics and IT, External Affairs and Law and Justice (Sabrang; ThePrint). Variety India says it was formed on Monday, 6 July. On the evening of Friday, 10 July the film was also removed from ZEE5's international catalogue, Khaleej Times reported, and Trehan confirmed it to SCREEN.

Where: Online: on ZEE5 in India, and then on its international catalogue.

Why it mattered: The film retells Khalra's work on secret cremations. The Supreme Court had said his press note on them was "found to be correct", and cited a CBI report of 984 bodies cremated as unidentified in Tarn Taran district. SGPC president Harjinder Singh Dhami called the removal "arbitrary" and demanded that every ban be lifted. Sukhbir Singh Badal called it "an assault on our collective memory, truth, and freedom of expression". Dosanjh said on Instagram Live that he had expected it, and ZEE5 said it was working to bring the film back.