After 3-year censorship battle, Diljit Dosanjh’s Punjab 95 hits OTT ‘uncut’ under new title | Bollywood News

After years of delays and an extended battle with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), director Honey Trehan’s much-awaited Punjab 95 has finally found its way to audiences. Now retitled Satluj, the film began streaming exclusively on ZEE5 on Friday evening. Starring Diljit Dosanjh, Kanwaljeet Singh, Arjun Rampal, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan, among others, the film is inspired the life of human rights activ Jaswant Singh Khalra. It revisits one of Punjab’s darkest chapters, focusing on the disappearances, alleged extra-judicial killings and illegal detentions linked to the state’s counter-insurgency operations against Khalani militancy during the 1980s and 1990s.
The makers also unveiled the film’s official trailer, which runs for over two minutes and establishes the political and social climate of Punjab in 1995. Through a voiceover, Arjun Rampal’s character explains that while the police force was engaged in combating militancy, some officers allegedly exploited the situation for personal gain. The trailer then introduces Suvinder Vicky’s character, as a cop, who warns Diljit Dosanjh’s Jaswant Singh against speaking out against the police, suggesting that doing so could cost him his life.
What follows are visuals depicting police brutality as Jaswant refuses to back down from his pursuit of justice. Determined to fight for his community and uphold human rights, he challenges a system portrayed as seeking to suppress the truth. The trailer also traces his efforts to take the issue to the international stage, highlighting his decades-long pursuit of justice for more than 25,000 people who had allegedly gone missing. At one point in the trailer, Jaswant declares, “We aren’t anti-police or anti-government, but those selfish individuals who, for their own promotions, have crossed the limits of humanity.” The trailer concludes with Jaswant’s own abduction and disappearance, accentuating the fate of the man who devoted his life to seeking justice for others.
Watch the trailer of Satluj here:

‘Complete film without any cuts’
The film’s release marks the end of an uncertainty that stretched for nearly three years. Taking to Instagram Stories, director Honey Trehan shared a note thanking everyone who stood the movie throughout its long journey to release. He also clarified that although the film has been released under a new title, audiences will be watching the complete version without any cuts. Trehan wrote, “We could not get the previous title of the film. The title is now ‘SATLUJ’. This is the complete film, without any cuts or compromises, in its original form as we always intended. It wouldn’t have been possible without Diljit paji and our producers and their will to stand for its integrity. As both Diljit paji and I had previously said, we would not endorse a compromised version of the film. the grace of God, we don’t have to. Thank you once again for all your support and prayers.”
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Why was Punjab 95 delayed?
The film’s prolonged delay stemmed from a censorship dispute that began after it was submitted to the CBFC in 2022. Over several months, the board sought numerous cuts before granting certification. In September 2023, Punjab 95 was scheduled to have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). However, the filmmakers were informed Indian authorities that the screening would have to be withdrawn.
In an exclusive interview with SCREEN last year, Honey Trehan detailed the prolonged certification process. “At first instance, I made the 21 cuts reluctantly, thinking this way the film wouldn’t get stuck. They wanted the name changed right from the beginning (it started off being called ‘Ghaluhgara’), and they also wanted us to drop the line ‘inspired from true events’. We made the cuts, created a new DCP (print) and gave it in, they came back with some more cuts. We made those also, and gave in a fresh print yet again, and again there was silence.”Story continues below this ad
According to the filmmaker, the cycle continued throughout 2024, with fresh cuts being suggested after every submission. At the beginning of 2025, there were discussions about releasing the film outside India, but that plan, too, did not materialise. Speaking about some of the changes sought the CBFC, Trehan had said: “Amongst the cuts demanded are the ones that ‘we have verbally been told are non-negotiable’. Change Khalra’s name. Drop any visuals of the Indian flag. Take out all sounds of the ‘gurbani’. Don’t say Punjab police, when it is clearly the state police in turbans that’s on screen. Take out the names of the places mentioned in the film where the bodies were discovered in the morgue. And change the name of the film. What is left then?”
The matter had also reached the Bombay High Court in 2023. However, at a crucial stage, the producers were advised to withdraw the case. What followed, according to Honey Trehan, was a series of postponements and continued uncertainty. Speaking to SCREEN at the time, he had revealed that the film would eventually be released under the title Sutlej and that the production team had complied with all the cuts sought the authorities.
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“I feel so demotivated,” he had said, adding, “There’s a strong sense of betrayal. I truly feel that if I cannot stand the person who fought fearlessly for so many people, I don’t deserve to make the film on him. It is my moral, ethical duty to stand him, and my film. Thirty years later, it feels as if Jaswant Singh Khalra is being abducted again.”