Hyderabad: Gurudwara Saheb Ameerpet will hold a free public screening of Diljit Dosanjh’s Satluj on Sunday, July 12, joining Sikh institutions across India that are taking the film directly to audiences after it was removed from ZEE5 in the country.
The screening will begin at 3:30 pm inside the Gurudwara’s Langar Hall. It is open to everyone, and refreshments will also be served.
The Hyderabad screening shows how the movement surrounding Satluj is now expanding beyond Punjab and other northern states. Gurudwaras and Sikh organisations in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Delhi and Jammu have already announced or organised community screenings to ensure that the film remains accessible despite its sudden disappearance from OTT.
Selective outrage or ignorance towards the minorities?
Films such as The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story received enormous mainstream visibility and open political support. The Kashmir Files was declared tax free in several BJP ruled states, with government leaders publicly encouraging people to watch it. Films such as Dhurandhar have also enjoyed massive theatrical promotion and nationwide attention.
However, when a film presents the trauma of a minority community and raises questions about alleged state violence, it appears to face a very different journey. Satluj spent years caught in certification disputes before finally reaching viewers, only to be removed from ZEE5 India within two days of its release.
The film premiered on the platform on July 3 but became unavailable to Indian viewers by July 5. ZEE5 said the decision was taken in light of “current developments” and added that it would explore appropriate legal avenues to bring the film back.
The controversy has since triggered protests, political reactions and a wider debate about censorship and the freedom of minority communities to document their own histories. The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee also held a protest march in Amritsar demanding that the restrictions surrounding the film be lifted.
Formerly titled Punjab ’95, Satluj follows human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who investigated alleged enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and secret cremations in Punjab during the turbulent period of the 1980s and early 1990s. Diljit Dosanjh plays Khalra in the film directed by Honey Trehan.
By opening its Langar Hall to everyone, Gurudwara Saheb Ameerpet is doing more than screening a movie. It is ensuring that a story denied a mainstream platform is not denied an audience.
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