Satluj Review: Diljit Dosanjh’s Masterpiece Vanishes in 48-Hour

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By TRH Features Desk

Diljit Dosanjh’s most powerful performance yet. Satluj finally released uncut on ZEE5 — then vanished from India within 48 hours. Here’s our full review.

Mumbai, July 6, 2026 — ZEE5Official said on Monday that it hoped to bring back Satluj soon. “Satluj may have paused. But the conversation it started has not,” added the OTT platform in a post on X.

By the time Satluj was taken off air, it had won praises. They heaped praises, as well as laments after Satluj went off air.

After nearly four years of censor board battles, three title changes, and a shelved theatrical release, Satluj — formerly known as Punjab ‘95 and, before that, Ghallughara — finally premiered on ZEE5 on July 3, 2026. It didn’t last long. Less than 48 hours later, the platform pulled the film from its Indian catalogue, though it remains available internationally on ZEE5 Global. That real-world drama has ended up shadowing the film itself, but on its own merits, Satluj is one of the most quietly devastating Hindi dramas to arrive on streaming this year.

What Is Satluj About?

Directed by Honey Trehan, Satluj is a biographical drama inspired by the life of Jaswant Singh Khalra, the Sikh human rights activist who exposed thousands of extrajudicial killings and unidentified cremations carried out by Punjab police during the insurgency-era crackdowns of the 1990s. The film follows Khalra’s investigation into the disappearances of more than 25,000 people, and the personal cost he paid for refusing to look away.

Diljit Dosanjh’s Performance: A Career Best

Diljit Dosanjh headlines the film as Khalra, and it is easily among the most restrained, internal performances of his career. Rather than lean on his established screen charisma, Dosanjh plays Khalra as an ordinary man pushed into extraordinary moral conviction — understated, grounded, and never once tipping into hero worship. Multiple Indian critics singled this out as a turning point in his filmography as an actor, not just a star.

The film’s second half shifts focus to Arjun Rampal’s CBI officer, whose quiet persistence becomes the engine of the story’s back half. Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky, and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan round out a cast that never overplays the material, letting the horror of the history speak for itself rather than dramatizing it for effect.

Trehan’s direction resists sensationalism at every turn. The film doesn’t dramatize the atrocities of Punjab’s darkest chapter so much as document them — patiently, and without a manipulative score or visual flourish pushing the audience toward a reaction. That restraint occasionally slows the middle act, but it also gives the back half of the film its weight.

The Censorship Battle Behind Satluj

The story of Satluj’s release is almost as dramatic as the film itself. Producer RSVP first sought certification from Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) in late 2022, when the film was still titled Ghallughara. The board’s demands eventually escalated from 21 cuts to more than 120, alongside a mandated title change, per media reports. The film was also withdrawn from a planned premiere at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival. Director Honey Trehan and the cast held firm for years, refusing to release a cut version.

Diljit Dosanjh has been vocal about the fight to protect the film’s integrity. On Instagram Live around the streaming premiere, he confirmed the cut that reached audiences was identical to what he’d seen in a theatrical screening two years earlier, adding that he wouldn’t have promoted it otherwise.

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Why ZEE5 Pulled Satluj From India

On July 3, Satluj quietly began streaming on ZEE5 in India, uncut, under its new title. Two days later, it disappeared from the Indian catalogue “until further notice,” while staying live internationally on ZEE5 Global. The platform did not publicly specify a reason for the removal. In a statement, ZEE5 said it was grateful for how audiences had responded and pledged to explore every appropriate channel to bring the film back through due process. According to Variety’s report on the withdrawal, ZEE5 framed the pause as temporary rather than a retreat from the project.

Diljit Dosanjh appeared to anticipate the move. Speaking on Instagram Live before the takedown, he told fans he expected the film could be removed within days and urged them to download it while they still could.

Final Verdict and Rating

Satluj is a slow-burning, emotionally devastating film that trades spectacle for honesty — a rare biographical drama willing to sit with grief and injustice rather than package them into easy catharsis. Diljit Dosanjh’s performance alone makes it essential viewing, and Arjun Rampal offers a quietly commanding counterweight in the back half.

Rating: 4/5 — A powerful, patient piece of filmmaking, hobbled only by its pacing in the middle stretch and now by its own availability.