Actor Gul Panag is the latest celebrity to comment on the controversy around Satluj, after the film was removed from OTT platform ZEE5 just two days after its release. Taking to X, the actor said that we as a country should not become so uncomfortable that we stop telling stories about difficult chapters of our history.
Recalling her childhood in Punjab during the years of militancy, Gul said she witnessed both terrorist violence and alleged human rights violations.
“I grew up in Punjab during the brutal years of militancy. I remember reading newspaper headlines about buses being stopped and innocent passengers being pulled out and killed. I also remember accounts of young men being picked up, detained and tortured, despite having nothing to do with the movement. Including from my village,” she wrote.
“Those memories are precisely why I don’t believe we should become so uncomfortable with difficult chapters of our history that we stop telling stories about them,” she added.
The actor also stated that films should not be treated as history, they should be open to discussion and should not be censored. She also said that a mere film can’t reverse the “hard-won rejection” of separatism in Punjab.
“A film isn’t a history textbook. It tells a story through one lens and one perspective. Debate it. Critique it. Counter it. Banning it is always counterproductive. But don’t assume Punjab’s hard-won rejection of separatism is so fragile that a film can reverse it!!” she wrote.
Satluj, which was earlier titled Punjab '95, is a film directed by Honey Trehan and stars Diljit Dosanjh, along with Arjun Rampal and Suvinder Vicky. It is a film based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra who shed light on Punjab police's extra-judicial killing of about 25,000 people at the time of insurgency in the state.
The film has had a tussle with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for over three years with the latter demanding over 120 cuts in the film. On Friday evening, however, the film quietly landed on ZEE5 and received favourable reviews from both critics and audiences. It was however dropped from the platform by Sunday evening. Making the announcement, ZEE5 wrote in an Instagram post, “In light of the current developments, Satluj will be unavailable in India until further notice. We remain committed to exploring every appropriate avenue through due process to bring the film back to our audiences at the earliest opportunity.”
