Actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh‘Satluj’ also starred Arjun Rampal finally released on OTT after a lot of trouble and issues with Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). The film was released directly on the digital platform after the CBFC suggested 120 cuts. But now just two days after its release on Zee5, the film has been pulled and is no longer available in India. Soon after the OTT platform announced that the film has been pulled from their platform, Diljit has now strongly responded to it. The 42-year-old shared a scene from the film on Instagram with the message, “I challenge the darkness.” Originally made as ‘Punjab 95’, the film is based on the life of: human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.Diljit’s Instagram post is written in Punjabi. Translated into English, it read: “#ichallenthedarkness. Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra Ji. #Punjab95. Satluj happened to Khalra Saab.” The streaming platform also responded to the removal of the film through a statement on social media. The platform said, “At Zee 5, we firmly stand by Satluj and the creative vision behind it. We believe that powerful storytelling has the ability to inspire, endure and leave a lasting impact. We remain committed to championing authentic and meaningful narratives.” Without saying why the film is not available for streaming in India, they added, “Because with current developments, the Satluj will not be available in India until further notice. We remain committed to exploring every appropriate avenue through due process to return the film to our audiences at the earliest opportunity.” They concluded the note with, “Our commitment to creators and to stories told with conviction, artistic integrity and purpose remains unwavering.”The caption of the post read, “Satluj may have stopped. But the conversation hasn’t started yet. Thanks for the amazing love. We hope to bring it back soon.”On Sunday, former cricketer and Member of Parliament Harbhajan Singh described the film as a must watch.Recently, in an interview, Diljit reflected on the emotional impact of making the film. He said in a chat with Variety India, “It is actually one of the toughest films I have done in my career. Emotionally and physically, it took everything out of all of us. There are long days, difficult conditions and intense scenery. But in the end, it was the nature of the subject that stuck with me. I think this is probably the first film in my career that required me to recover after the shoot.“He added, “Once a film is wrapped, I move quickly as I don’t enjoy taking a break. But, after this film, I have to take a week to process everything I went through portraying Jaswant Singh Khalra. The scenes, the emotions, and the character aspects stayed, so it took time for me to get away from that.Director Honey Trehan and the producers maintain that the film is based on documented events. The controversy also affected its festival journey, with the film being withdrawn before its scheduled premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film also features Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in lead roles, apart from Diljit and Arjun.
