Diljit Dosanjh's film 'Satluj' has found itself in the middle of a controversy after it was removed from ZEE5. The sudden decision by the OTT platform came as a shock to many because the movie had already faced several delays. If the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) had an objection with the film's release, then how was Satluj directly released on ZEE5?

How was Satluj directly released on ZEE5 with CBFC's approval?

CBFC earlier asked for around 127 cuts from the film to release it in theatres. Earlier titled Punjab '95, the movie faced several delays. The makers decided to directly release Satluj on ZEE5 as no CBFC certification is usually required for a project to release on OTT.
While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India, director Honey Trehan also commented on the reason of Satluj directly arriving on ZEE5. "Over that prolonged period of stagnation, Ronnie [Screwvala] sir, in tandem with ZEE, took the definitive call to go straight to digital. On streaming platforms, you don’t strictly require a CBFC theatrical certificate," he said.
Rather than a CBFC certification, OTT content require age classification and self-regulation, and they are regulated under the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021.

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What did Diljit Dosanjh say about Satluj being taken down?

Diljit Dosanjh shared that he already expected something like this to happen. In a video, he said, "I felt that the film would probably be banned on Monday, once offices opened, but I had no idea it would happen already on Sunday evening. That’s why we couldn’t promote the film, and that’s why we released it without telling anyone in advance. If we had announced it and promoted it two days before, it would never have run at all."
Set in 1995, Satluj is inspired by true events and focuses on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who risked his life to uncover the involvement of the Punjab Police in alleged killings and cremation of over 25000 people.
The movie also stars Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan in the pivotal roles.
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