With each passing day, a new development around ‘Satluj’ is creating headlines. The biopic of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, starring: Diljit DosanjhKanwaljit Singh, Arjun Rampal and Savinderpal Vicky, among others, were among the highest rated films in India on the popular rating aggregator IMDb, until the ratings mysteriously disappeared.
Satluj’s 9.5 rating is gone
When we checked the rating aggregator’s website on Wednesday afternoon, ratings were readily available for other new releases like Akshay Kumar’s ‘Welcome To The Jungle’. However, the 9.5 rating for ‘Satluj’ which was earlier titled ‘Panjab ’95’ has disappeared completely.The film has been at the center of a huge controversy ever since it was dropped last week on Zee5, only to be pulled for two days. Before that, the Honey Trehan-directorial was stuck in limbo for years, with the Censor Board originally asking for 127 cuts. Honey and Trehan reportedly refused to include their names in the film if even a cut was made.
‘Satluj’ writer Niren Bhatt of missing rating
In a conversation with HT City, ‘Satluj’s writer Niren Bhatt, he said he had no idea how or why the rating was lost, telling the publication, “Film kab aane wali thi, kab chali gayi humein pata nahi chala. (We don’t know when the film will be released or when it will be pulled. And now about the IMDb rating… who has an issue with it, what is the issue, there is no complete communication. )
Sanjay Gupta comments on removing ‘Satluj’ ratings
Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta also noticed the sudden drop in the film’s rating, sharing his thoughts on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday. Expressing his skepticism, he pointed out that the film had a stellar 9.5 rating just one day before completely disappearing. Gupta said that while he never trusts or relies on these digital aggregator metrics, this incident serves as proof of how fickle and unreliable they can be.
‘Satluj’s piracy on the rise
Satluj lead actor Diljit Dosanjh held an Instagram Live session after the film was dropped from ZEE5 on Sunday. During the session, he encouraged people to spread the links of the film once they have downloaded it, saying it is no longer possible to prevent the spread of the film. The OTT platform later shared a statement on social media, asking viewers to wait until the platform restores the film, and urging them to avoid using pirated copies of ‘Satluj’ in the meantime.