Even though Sutlej is unavailable on ZEE5 in India, filmmaker Honey Trehan has received strong support from director Ram Gopal Varma. After Trehan thanked Varma for praising the film, the filmmaker said that the audience should thank Trehan for making “such a powerful and eye-opening film”.

Trehan had earlier thanked Verma for his appreciation. He described the accolade as an honor and encouragement for filmmakers like him and also credited producer Ronnie Screwvala and actor Diljit Dosanjh for their unwavering support.

Responding to Varma’s post, Trehan wrote, “Thank you @RGVzoomin sir, it’s really an honor and very encouraging for filmmakers like us. I’m glad to know that the film resonated with you. I couldn’t have achieved this, especially without the tremendous support of my producers @RonnieScrewvala and bhaji @dilgitdosanjh (sic).”

Varma then replied, “Oh, not you. All of us in the audience have to thank you for making such a powerful and eye-opening film.”

Earlier, Varma had strongly supported the film and urged that it should not be suppressed. calling Satluj “This is not a movie, but a deep wound that will never heal”, he said, adding that it harkens back to “one of the darkest chapters in our history”.

He described it as essential filmmaking and said that the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer shows “how a democracy eats its own citizens and then tries to erase the evidence” without being preachy. He also wrote that “any art that makes the powerful uncomfortable has done its job”.

Verma praised Dosanjh’s performance, saying that the actor tells the story with “a quiet anger without chest-thumping bravado” and that his only weapons are “a ledger and a conscience”. He also praised Arjun Rampal for bringing out “layers of moral rot” in institutional collusion.

On Trehan’s direction, Varma said the filmmakers avoided sensationalism and allowed the film to unfold as a slow-paced investigative thriller. He ended his post with an appeal: “Please don’t do this Satluj “What has been done to Jaswant Singh Khalra” and also quoted the line, “The truth becomes stronger when one tries to hide it.”

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more about Satluj

Satluj It was released on ZEE5 on 3 July without any prior announcement or promotion, but stopped streaming on 5 July. On July 6, the platform said that the film will remain unavailable in India until further notice and that it is exploring every appropriate avenue through the due process to bring it back to the audiences as soon as possible.

However, the platform did not give any reason PTI Citing government sources, it was reported that the Center directed ZEE5 to remove the film keeping in mind “security concerns” and obligations under the IT Rules 2021.

The makers had applied for CBFC certification in 2022 under the original title Punjab ’95But the 127 cuts suggested by the board were not accepted. Then the film was quietly released on OTT under the title Satluj.

Sutlej is a biographical drama focusing on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, played by Diljit Dosanjh. Set in Punjab in the 1980s and 1990s, the film follows Khalra’s investigation of the alleged abduction and secret cremation of thousands of unidentified youth by the local police. Khalra himself was kidnapped and murdered in 1995 after taking documentary evidence to international level. The film also stars Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljeet Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan.