7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
127 cuts, no release: Diljit Dosanjh's Punjab 95 is caught in a cycle of postponements, disappointments, says director Honey Trehan
An Indian film screened on the sidelines of the recent Cannes film festival which caught the eye of a group of visiting Indian and international journalists was Punjab '95, produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP Movies, directed by Honey Trehan, and starring Diljit Dosanjh, Kanwaljeet, Arjun Rampal, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan, among others.
It was a private screening organised by the director who has been running from the proverbial pillar to post for the past two years to get the film released. In September 2023, it was meant to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), but the filmmakers were told by Indian authorities that they would have to pull out the film.
Since then, there's been a stand-off between the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and the filmmakers, causing the film to lie in limbo, joining other recent films which have been stopped from releasing, including Sandhya Suri's 'Santosh', which officially screened in Cannes in 2024.
Punjab '95 tells the story of an ordinary man who became extraordinary through his dogged attempts to help those who could not help themselves. Jaswant Singh Khalra, a bank manager in Amritsar, got sucked into the murky goings-on in the state at a time when terrorist activity was rife. After some digging, it was found that the legitimate action against militants was being used to target innocents, leading to an unconscionable number of extra-judicial killings.
Khalra's initial attempts to discover what happened to a family he knew well led him to uncovering a massive cover-up, and he became a thorn in the side of those in power. In September 1995, he was abducted from his home, and taken to the police station; after a few days, he was found dead, his body showing signs of torture.
Dosanjh plays Khalra with a quiet conviction, taking care not to bring any awareness of his own celebrity status into the role. A man pitch-forked quite inadvertently into a slice of contentious history, Dosanjh as Khalra is shown at sea, to begin with: he has no idea where, how and why people are disappearing, and how the nameless dead are piling up at mortuaries, only gradually unravelling the stealth and conspiracy behind the killings. The ensemble cast does a good job, with Suvinder Vicky in a stand-out turn as the dirty cop who cracked the whip at the state's command.
Director Honey Trehan has turned Khalra's powerfully moving story into a telling document of a time when Punjab was in the throes of militancy, and how one man's tireless crusade blew the covers off a crime against humanity.
During an impassioned conversation in Cannes after the screening, he spoke about his efforts to keep the film's letter-and-spirit intact even as the number of cuts have kept climbing from the initial 21: at last count they numbered more than a hundred.
'Shuru shuru mein maine mann maar ke 21 cuts kare, socha chalo picture nahi atkey', says Trehan (at first instance, I made the 21 cuts reluctantly, thinking this way the film wouldn't get stuck). They wanted the name changed right from the beginning (it started off by being called 'Ghaluhgara'), and they also wanted us to drop the line 'inspired from true events'. We made the cuts, created a new DCP (print) and gave it in, they came back with some more cuts. We made those also, and gave in a fresh print yet again, and again there was silence'.
All through 2024, it was more of the same. Fresh cuts, submissions, followed by a demand for more cuts. Earlier this year (2025), hope was held out that the film could be released out of the country, but that plan also had to be dropped. As things stand now, the number of cuts demanded is about 127 or so, and there is no news of when the film can, or will, release.
Amongst the cuts demanded are the ones that 'we have verbally been told are non-negotiable', says Trehan. 'Change Khalra's name. Drop any visuals of the Indian flag. Take out all sounds of the 'gurbani'. Don't say Punjab police, when it is clearly the state police in turbans that's on screen. Take out the names of the places mentioned in the film where the bodies were discovered in the morgue. And change the name of the film. What is left then?'
'What I don't understand is the reason behind these cuts, he says, 'no reasons have been given formally. I am willing to cut anything if it is a directive from a court as I am a law-abiding Indian citizen, but I am not being allowed to fight in court.'
The case was, in fact, being heard at the Bombay High Court in the early stages (2023), but at a crucial juncture, the producers were told that the film would have to be withdrawn from court. Ever since, it has been a case of continual postponements, and disappointments.
We have taken utmost care to stick to facts, compiling them from police records and news reports, says Trehan. 'Khalra's family, which was reluctant to give the rights to anyone else, was happy for us to bring alive his legacy. They have seen the film and are satisfied with it. So has the Akal Takht. If all stakeholders are happy with it, why isn't the film being allowed to release?
Last heard, he says, the film will be called 'Sutlej', and all the cuts that have been demanded, have been made by the production team.
'But this is not my film, and I'm withdrawing my name from it. So is Diljit, who has been with me through and through, saying paaji main aapke vision ke saath khada hoon (I'm standing by your vision). That is Diljit for you, when he surrenders, he surrenders completely'.
'I feel so demotivated', he says. 'There's a strong sense of betrayal. I truly feel that if I cannot stand by the person who fought fearlessly for so many people, I don't deserve to make the film on him. It is my moral, ethical duty to stand by him, and my film. Thirty years later, it feels as if Jaswant Singh Khalra is being abducted again'.
