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Satluj Released Uncut on ZEE5 After Three‑Year Censor Standoff

The online launch delivers the filmmakers’ original version, demonstrating that streaming can bypass domestic certification barriers.

Overview

  • The Honey Trehan film formerly known as Punjab ’95 began streaming globally on ZEE5 on July 3, 2026 in what makers and the platform describe as the complete, uncut version.
  • The release ends a near three‑year dispute with India’s Central Board of Film Certification that included repeated demands for cuts, mandated title changes and a Bombay High Court appeal.
  • Satluj is a dramatized account inspired by human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra and traces his efforts to expose alleged mass disappearances of more than 25,000 people during Punjab’s insurgency era.
  • Filmmakers and lead actor Diljit Dosanjh refused to endorse a compromised cut, and ZEE5 framed the OTT premiere as preserving the film’s integrity and giving it direct access to global audiences.
  • The film’s public debut gives Khalra’s family and survivors a wider platform to revisit these events and could encourage other creators to use streaming to release works blocked for domestic certification, which may prompt fresh legal and political responses.