Ram Gopal Varma Calls Diljit Dosanjh’s Satluj ‘True Art’, Says Film Deserves To Be ‘Seen, Not Encountered’

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma has come out in support of Diljit Dosanjh’s film Satluj, which was previously titled Punjab ’95. The film directed by Honey Trehan, premiered on Zee5 on July 3, but was taken down from the OTT platform within two days of its premiere. It is based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. Ram Gopal Varma called Satluj a highly courageous film, urging authorities not to suppress it. Praising the film, he wrote that it confronts one of the darkest chapters in India’s history without resorting to sensationalism.

Ram Gopal Varma Reviews Diljit Dosanjh Starrer Satluj

“Just saw SATLUJ and it is not a film, but a deep wound that will never heal. It stirs up the sludge in one of the darkest chapters of our history This is cinema used as confrontation, where @diljitdosanjh

acts with a quiet fury with no chest thumping heroism.. His only weapons are a ledger and a conscience. @rampalarjun adds layers of moral rot in the institutional complicity that feels chillingly realistic,” he wrote.

Just saw SATLUJ and it is not a film , but a deep wound that will never heal. It stirs up the sludge in one of the darkest chapters of our history
This is cinema used as confrontation , where @diljitdosanjh acts with a quiet fury with no chest thumping heroism.. His only weapons…

— Ram Gopal Varma (@RGVzoomin) July 7, 2026

“Director @honeytrehan instead of sensationalising the horror unfolds the film like a slow burn investigative thriller through bureaucratic files, cremation records, and hushed conversations. This restraint makes the brutality of the subject matter hit that much harder because it explodes with the force of truth and not exploitation. The philosophical core of the film about how a democracy devours its own citizens and then tries to erase the evidence is explored without any preachiness and that’s no normal achievement,” he added.

Ram Gopal Varma On Satluj’s Removal From OTT Platform

Addressing the controversy surrounding Satluj’s removal from Zee5, he said the issues over its exhibition only reinforced the film’s significance. He argued that art succeeds when it makes those in power uncomfortable.

“The various issues surrounding its exhibition and publication prove that any art which makes the powerful uncomfortable has done its job, and that is the true purpose of true art, which SATLUJ is . It is highly courageous essential filmmaking because it unsettles, educates, and lingers. In the times where main stream chases spectacle and popcorn cinema , SUTLEJ shoots out a hard reminder of what cinematic medium can truly achieve when it takes on truth and honesty SATLUJ is a film that has to be seen , shown, discussed, debated and not ENCOUNTERED like the victims in the film,” he wrote.

Ending his note with an appeal, Ram Gopal Varma wrote, ” My appeal to all the powers is , please don’t do to SATLUJ what has been done to JASWANT SINGH KALRA.  TRUTH HITS HARDER when one tries to HIDE IT . — AYN RAND.”

About Satluj

Directed by Honey Trehan, Satluj premiered on Zee5 on July 3 after nearly four years of delays. The film had earlier faced hurdles over certification, preventing its planned theatrical release. However, it finally reached audiences on OTT before being taken down from the platform in 2 days.

Satluj, previously titled Panjab ’95, follows Jaswant Singh Khalra’s story as he begins with one personal search and gradually uncovers a much larger story of alleged disappearances and custodial deaths. Set during Punjab’s turbulent militancy period, the film presents his journey as a struggle against injustice, silence and institutional denial.