Sutlej actor Varun Badola reacts to Diljit urging fans to download and watch the film
Amid the Sutlej controversy and calls for Diljit Dosanjh’s copies to be circulated, actor Varun Badola has said he cannot support piracy. His comments come as the film remains blocked, screenings continue elsewhere, and controversy over access and censorship deepens.
As there is controversy regarding actor Diljit Dosanjh’s film Satluj Co-actor Varun Badola has broken his silence on the film’s sudden removal from OTT and Dosanjh’s subsequent comments advocating piracy. The biographical drama directed by Honey Trehan was removed from ZEE5 within 48 hours of its streaming release, prompting fresh public screenings outside the platform.
In response to the censorship controversy, Dosanjh urged fans to broadcast downloaded copies during an Instagram Live session – Badola respects the move given the circumstances, but says he cannot personally support it.
❮❯
The ongoing developments have triggered widespread debate over censorship, due process, and dissemination of the film outside authorized channels. Whereas Satluj While screening has recently been conducted for local communities in Jammu, and organizations such as the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee plan more screening in gurdwaras, Badola stressed his firm stance against illegal distribution.
Reacting to the controversy, the actor, who plays lawyer Ravinder Jais in the film, said that although the situation is incredibly unique, he has a strong personal rule against watching or promoting pirated content.
“I have been seeing videos of the film being shown in villages on Instagram. We keep fighting against piracy. I understand that this situation is very different, but I still cannot advocate piracy. I will not watch the pirated version. This is a rule I have always followed. So, I will wait. The only thing we all can do right now is wait,” Varun said, adding that he still hasn’t watched the movie. Satluj.
He said that he was initially confused when people talked to him about the current title of the film. “When my cricket fraternity told me about my looks and character in it, I thought they were talking about some other film. When they mentioned SatlujI told him that I have not done any film with this name. it was formerly known as Punjab ’95. We were in Belapur for a family function when it released. My wife and I thought we’d look at it at the appropriate time,” he said.
Badola said the film was removed within 48 hours. He said, “It’s not that I didn’t watch it because they wanted to make and release it with complete secrecy. Every time Honey would ask me to watch it, I would never turn up to watch it. I knew it would eventually release and I would watch it then. I have a problem watching my own work, so I didn’t put too much pressure on them. During dubbing, I only watched a few of my scenes.”
Describing the action as “daylight robbery”, Varun said the ban on films is not without precedent. He said, “It is not that no film was ever banned in the past. Many Indian films have been banned. Sometimes, the powers that be feel that course correction is important. Only they know why they decided to ban our film.”
He also mentioned that the film offers a perspective that audiences are now deprived of seeing. Badola said, “Through our film, we have put forward a point of view. Those who are evaluating it will probably understand after watching the entire film that it is not about them at all.”
Reflecting on his conversation with director Honey Trehan two days after the film was removed, Varun highlighted that Trehan too lacked clarity. “Ideally, they should have had the information, but they didn’t have any information. What’s happening right now is between the streaming platforms and government officials,” Badola said. He said he refrained from bombarding the director with questions, trusting that Trehan would share updates as soon as he got them.
Despite a recent petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court against “illegal” public screenings and the decision of a committee of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting that the film will remain blocked, Badola found a ray of hope in the public response. He said, “Once the public embraces the film, no one can stop it.”
Produced by Abhishek Chaubey, the film also stars actors Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in lead roles.