This scene from Sutlej has sparked intense reaction online
A scene from Sutlej has drawn sharp reactions online. The controversy has led to renewed scrutiny of the film’s portrayal, even leading to its removal from Zee5.
A scene from Diljit Dosanjh’s film Sutlej is being criticized on social media, with some users questioning the depiction of a suicide bomber near the Punjab Chief Minister’s car and the use of music in the background. Some of those who reacted to the clip said that the sequence appeared to glorify a slightly fictionalized version of the assassination of former Punjab Chief Minister Beant Singh, played by Anant Singh in the film.
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This debate comes at a time when Satluj is already in the focus after being removed from ZEE5 in India till further notice. The film, inspired by the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, went through a lengthy certification controversy before being released uncut under a new title.
Sharing the scene on X, a user wrote, “The murder of Chief Minister Beant Singh has been glorified in the film Sutlej. CM Beant Singh was murdered by Khalistanis and there was no link to Khalistanis in the film.”
Another user said that a song playing in the background was “a call to the heroes to take their spiritual fight and valor to the battlefield to face the enemies”, and argued that the scene showed the killing of Beant Singh without any Khalistani link, making it look like “a common man’s outrage”. The user said this is why “#Sutlej needed 127 cuts” and why “the ban was much needed in the current times of rising K-Tani impact”.
A third user called the scene “deeply problematic” and wrote, “It depicts the CM’s assassination in a suicide bombing, while an uplifting, positive song is used in the background, glorifying the scene. What was your intention behind this depiction? Please explain @DiljitDosanjh. As far as I have read, the pro-Khalistan terrorist involved in the assassination of the former CM was sentenced to life imprisonment.”
Other users defended the film and said the clip was being viewed without the broader context of the story. Responding to one such post, an The user said that the family of the person who carried out the attack was also killed in a similar manner and declared a terrorist.
The same post described Sutlej as the story of Jaswant Singh Khalra, played by Dosanjh, and said that he had investigated the disappearance of thousands of Sikh youth in Punjab in the 1990s. According to the Post, Khalra used municipal and crematorium records to uncover evidence of state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings and mass cremations, estimating that more than 25,000 people were unlawfully killed. The post said he was later abducted by police in 1995 and that the officers involved were later convicted.
Another user also hit back at the criticism, writing, “Did you watch the movie? Looks like you just took an internet clip to comment. The song was from the perspective of a person who was wronged. His entire family was murdered. It didn’t glorify the death of a CM.”
The film has drawn renewed attention to Khalra’s life after she was dropped from Zee5. Dosanjh addressed the takedown in an Instagram post in Punjabi, which translated as: “I challenge the darkness. Shaheed Jaswant Singh Khalra ji. Punjab 95. Sutlej is what happened to Khalra saab.” Zee5 later issued a statement on social media confirming its removal and responded Satluj I was overwhelmed and thanking the viewers who subscribed, watched and supported it. The platform said it will continue to support the film, its director and its creative vision and that it is exploring legal options to bring Sutlej back to audiences in India as soon as possible.
Directed by Honey Trehan, Satluj It also stars Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljeet Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in lead roles. the first title was Punjab ’95The film remained stuck in certification controversy for nearly three years after the Central Board of Film Certification reportedly demanded 127 cuts, a figure which was also quoted by the producers, before it was eventually released uncut under a new name. The latest argument online focused on a single sequence, with some users calling it insensitive and others saying it was being evaluated without the full context of the film’s story.