ZEE5 removes Diljit Dosanjh film Satluj after India release

ZEE5 removed Satluj from its Indian catalogue within 48 hours of putting it online, turning a long-delayed release into a fresh censorship fight. The Honey Trehan film, starring Diljit Dosanjh and based on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, remains available outside India through ZEE5 Global.

The streaming company said the film would be unavailable in India until further notice because of “current developments,” while saying it stood by the project and would explore appropriate legal or due-process avenues to restore it. That abrupt takedown came after the film finally reached Indian audiences on July 3, 2026, under a new title after years of delay under its original name, Punjab ’95 or Panjab ’95.

The film’s path has been defined by the Central Board of Film Certification. Submitted to the CBFC in 2022, the project stalled for more than three years as reports said the board sought as many as 127 cuts and also wanted the title changed. The dispute left the film unreleased theatrically, despite its cast and subject matter drawing attention well before it reached a streaming platform.

Satluj centers on Khalra, who investigated alleged illegal killings and secret cremations in Punjab during the militancy period. The story made the film politically sensitive from the start, and the streaming release did not end the controversy so much as relocate it from cinema halls to a platform that could still be pressured through legal and regulatory channels.

Dosanjh addressed the removal on Instagram Live, saying he expected the move, thanking fans who had already downloaded or watched the film, and urging them to share it so others could see it. The backlash widened online after comedian Kunal Kamra criticized the CBFC’s handling of the film and compared the controversy to Khalra being “abducted again.”

The sequence has made Satluj a sharp example of how censorship now reaches the streaming era. A film that could not clear theatrical release in India was renamed, launched online, then pulled almost immediately, leaving ZEE5 to defend the title while the platform kept it visible to viewers outside the country.