All of us should thank you for Satluj: RGV praises Honey Trehan amid OTT takedown
Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma praised Satluj and said audiences should thank director Honey Trehan for making such a powerful and eye-opening film. The exchange came as Trehan responded to his earlier post praising the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer.
Even as Satluj remains unavailable on ZEE5 in India, filmmaker Honey Trehan received strong backing from director Ram Gopal Varma. After Trehan thanked Varma for praising the film, the filmmaker said it was audiences who should be thanking Trehan for making "such a powerful and eye-opening film."
Trehan had earlier thanked Varma for his appreciation. He called the praise an honour and encouraging 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, this is truly an honour and very encouraging for filmmakers like us. I'm glad to know the film resonated with you. I couldn't have achieved this, especially without the tremendous support from my producers @RonnieScrewvala and bhaji @diljitdosanjh (sic)."
Varma then responded, "Hey, not you. All of us in the audience need to thank you for making such a powerful and eye-opening film."
Earlier, Varma had strongly backed the film and urged that it should not be suppressed. Calling Satluj "not a film, but a deep wound that will never heal", he said it stirs "one of the darkest chapters of our history".
He described it as essential filmmaking and said the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer shows "how a democracy devours its own citizens and then tries to erase the evidence" without becoming preachy. He also wrote that "any art which makes the powerful uncomfortable has done its job".
Varma praised Dosanjh's performance, saying the actor tells the story with "a quiet fury with no chest-thumping heroism" and that his only weapons are "a ledger and a conscience". He also praised Arjun Rampal for bringing "layers of moral rot" to institutional complicity.
On Trehan's direction, Varma said the filmmaker avoids sensationalism and lets the film unfold as a slow-burn investigative thriller. He ended his post with an appeal: "Please don't do to Satluj what has been done to Jaswant Singh Khalra," and also cited the line, "Truth hits harder when one tries to hide it."
More about Satluj
Satluj was released on ZEE5 on July 3 without prior announcement or promotion, but stopped streaming on July 5. On July 6, the platform said the film would remain unavailable in India until further notice and that it was exploring every appropriate avenue through due process to bring it back to audiences at the earliest.
The platform did not give a reason, but PTI reported, citing government sources, that the Centre directed ZEE5 to take down the film over "security concerns" and obligations under the IT Rules 2021.
The makers had applied for CBFC certification in 2022 under the original title Punjab '95, but did not accept the 127 cuts suggested by the board. The film was then released quietly on OTT under the title Satluj.
Satluj is a biographical drama centred 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 into the alleged abduction and secret cremation of thousands of unidentified youths by the local police. Khalra was himself abducted and killed in 1995 after taking his documented evidence internationally. The film also features Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan.
Even as Satluj remains unavailable on ZEE5 in India, filmmaker Honey Trehan received strong backing from director Ram Gopal Varma. After Trehan thanked Varma for praising the film, the filmmaker said it was audiences who should be thanking Trehan for making "such a powerful and eye-opening film."
Trehan had earlier thanked Varma for his appreciation. He called the praise an honour and encouraging 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, this is truly an honour and very encouraging for filmmakers like us. I'm glad to know the film resonated with you. I couldn't have achieved this, especially without the tremendous support from my producers @RonnieScrewvala and bhaji @diljitdosanjh (sic)."
Varma then responded, "Hey, not you. All of us in the audience need to thank you for making such a powerful and eye-opening film."
Earlier, Varma had strongly backed the film and urged that it should not be suppressed. Calling Satluj "not a film, but a deep wound that will never heal", he said it stirs "one of the darkest chapters of our history".
He described it as essential filmmaking and said the Diljit Dosanjh-starrer shows "how a democracy devours its own citizens and then tries to erase the evidence" without becoming preachy. He also wrote that "any art which makes the powerful uncomfortable has done its job".
Varma praised Dosanjh's performance, saying the actor tells the story with "a quiet fury with no chest-thumping heroism" and that his only weapons are "a ledger and a conscience". He also praised Arjun Rampal for bringing "layers of moral rot" to institutional complicity.
On Trehan's direction, Varma said the filmmaker avoids sensationalism and lets the film unfold as a slow-burn investigative thriller. He ended his post with an appeal: "Please don't do to Satluj what has been done to Jaswant Singh Khalra," and also cited the line, "Truth hits harder when one tries to hide it."
More about Satluj
Satluj was released on ZEE5 on July 3 without prior announcement or promotion, but stopped streaming on July 5. On July 6, the platform said the film would remain unavailable in India until further notice and that it was exploring every appropriate avenue through due process to bring it back to audiences at the earliest.
The platform did not give a reason, but PTI reported, citing government sources, that the Centre directed ZEE5 to take down the film over "security concerns" and obligations under the IT Rules 2021.
The makers had applied for CBFC certification in 2022 under the original title Punjab '95, but did not accept the 127 cuts suggested by the board. The film was then released quietly on OTT under the title Satluj.
Satluj is a biographical drama centred 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 into the alleged abduction and secret cremation of thousands of unidentified youths by the local police. Khalra was himself abducted and killed in 1995 after taking his documented evidence internationally. The film also features Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan.
