Kunal Kamra Reviews Censor-Stuck Film Punjab 95, Says "They Don't Want Us To Remember A Hero Who Wears A Turban"
Comedian Kunal Kamra says he recently watched Honey Trehan's Punjab 95, a film based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra and starring Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh in the lead. The makers of the movie have been waiting to receive a certificate from the Censor Board for over 18 months, he said. According to reports, the film certification body has demanded 127 cuts in Punjab 95.
Kunal Kamra, who has often courted controversy for his anti-establishment views, said he wonders who would be upset "if this film came out the way its team and director wanted it to". In an Instagram post shared on Tuesday, the comedian said the authorities don't want anyone to celebrate "a hero that hails from a minority community today".
The discourse around Punjab 95 resurfaced on social media after Diljit Dosanjh and the producers of Sardaar Ji 3 landed in soup over Pakistani actor Hania Aamir's casting in the new Punjabi film.
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A post shared by Kunal Kamra (@kuna_kamra)
What's Happening
Comedian Kunal Kamra on Tuesday shared a post in support of Punjab 95, a film directed by Honey Trehan and starring Diljit Dosanjh as the late human activist Jaswant Singh Khalra who investigated cases of mass cremations and extrajudicial killings of Sikhs in Punjab in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1995, the activist was allegedly abducted and murdered by Punjab Police.
In his post, the comic said, "I don't think they want anyone to celebrate a hero that hails from a minority community today. I just finished watching Panjab 95, a film that refamiliarizes me with the martyrdom of Jaswant Singh Khalra... A man who was abducted, tortured and killed for his 'crime' of constitutionally demanding accountability from a system that had descended into depths of inhumanity."
"I don't know who would even be upset if this film came out the way its team and director wanted it to. For the last eighteen months the team behind the film has been dealing with the whims and fancies of the censor board who want to have 21, 35, 85, 127 cuts and are still not sure if they would be able to give a certificate to the story of one of Punjab's most relentless human right warriors. The police in the film, they say, should not be called Punjab Police. And the martyr in the film should not be called Jaswant Singh Khalra!" added Kunal Kamra.
The comedian called the long list of objections, cuts and interventions by CBFC "couldn't be more absurd". "Like I said at the beginning, they do not want us to remember a hero who wears a turban and is a devoted Sikh. For me the film is a unexaggerated corroboration of the facts that remain in public domain that the fearful in power, through censor board want to erase," he wrote.
What Else We Know About Punjab 95
Punjab 95 was earlier slated to release in theatres on February 7, 2025, without any cuts.
Diljit Dosanjh later shared an update about the delay in the movie's release on his Instagram Stories. "We are sorry and it pains us to inform you that the movie Punjab 95 will not release on 7th Feb due to circumstances beyond our control."
Punjab 95 was also removed from the line-up of the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), just ahead of its world premiere without any prior intimation.
Filmmaker Sunayana Suresh, who also watched Punjab 95 recently, shared a long note on Instagram backing the makers and calling out the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC).
In A Nutshell
Punjab 95 is yet to receive a certificate from the CBFC. The film board has reportedly asked the film's producers to make 127 cuts in the film.
The debate around the delay in the release of Punjab 95 took centre stage after lead star Diljit Dosanjh's upcoming movie Sardaar Ji 3 ran into trouble over the casting of Pakistani actor Hania Aamir in the film despite a ban on Pakistani actors working in Indian film productions, especially in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack and Operation Sindoor.
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