Diljit Dosanjh’s Punjab ’95 is still at the edit table as the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has reportedly suggested further modifications before giving it a clean chit for release. As per reports, the members of the board had initially suggested 85 cuts, but now, the number has gone up to 120.
CBFC suggests new modifications and cuts to Punjab '95 makers
According to a news portal’s report, CBFC chairman Prasoon Joshi, along with the Revising Committee, watched Punjab ’95 last month and the cuts have drastically scaled up. Apart from changing the character’s name, the board has reportedly instructed the makers to modify the title from Punjab ’95 to Sutlej.
A source told Mid-Day, “Per the CBFC’s suggestion, the film will now be called Sutlej, denoting the river that unites Punjab. There are a total of almost 120 changes! The most pivotal change is to not call the protagonist Jaswant Singh anymore. Honey and producer Ronnie Screwvala told CBFC that they won’t allow this change in a film that highlights Khalra’s role in investigating the disappearance and killing of Sikh youths during the Punjab insurgency between 1984 and 1994. Their point of argument was that Khalra is seen as a martyr by the Sikh community and removing his name will be disrespectful not just to him and his family, but to the entire community. Not to mention that it then won’t be a biopic anymore. The CBFC also stated that the movie cannot claim to be based on real-life incidents as they felt it would lead to ‘swaying of sentiments’.”
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The source added, “In a scene, there is a Gurbani that has been asked to be removed. They have also instructed that any mention of Punjab and the district of Tarn Taran be dropped. Moreover, the display of the national flag and any reference to Canada or the UK has to be dropped altogether. If the makers agree to these changes, they will be handed the certificate before the week ends.”
Ever since the film was screened for the CBFC back in 2022, director Honey Trehan and producer Ronnie Screwvala have been putting in the effort to clear the matter. The Censor Board’s then-ask was for 22 cuts. The source also shared, “The makers had eventually decided to pursue an out-of-court settlement. In an earlier meeting, the Revising Committee asked them to alter a line in the film, where the protagonist remarks that over 25,000 people have been killed in Punjab. The Revising Committee stated that the number be reduced. But Honey and Ronnie had opposed it, noting that all the facts shown in the film were based on real-life testimonies and the CBI court’s judgment from the ’90s.”
What's Punjab '95
Punjab ’95 is set in the period following the assassination of then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi when over 2000 people were killed and cremated unlawfully in Punjab’s Tarn Taran district. Jaswant Singh Khalra, the director of a bank in Amritsar, uncovered the evidence of the horrific murders. In 1995, he was abducted and killed after his investigation had sparked worldwide protests and the Supreme Court of India and the National Human Rights Commission had also backed the findings.