'Satluj' came quietly on ZEE5 and, in just two days created a huge uproar after being pulled from the streaming platform. The people who made it are still trying to figure out why.

The film, starring Diljit Dosanjh and directed by Honey Trehan, dropped on Friday without any fanfare. 

It had been stuck in a four-year battle with censors under its original title Panjab 95. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone, removed on Sunday with no explanation given.

Now the film's writer, Niren Bhatt, has spoken out. And he is not holding back.

Speaking to Variety India, he said, "I feel someone in the establishment has a massive problem with it, but the real issue is the complete lack of communication. For years, it has just been pure stonewalling. "

He added, "There is pin-drop silence from the CBFC. They will not tell us what their problem is, which parts offend them or who is making these calls. Even now, Zee5 issues a statement about 'current developments' but cannot explain what those developments actually are."

He further said, "If there is a problem, let us have a dialogue. But how can you have a dialogue when they just silently remove your work?" 

According to government sources,  the film was pulled over "security concerns," while an NDTV report went further, suggesting there were fears the film could be used as propaganda by "anti-India" elements.

Bhatt finds that argument hard to swallow. "That argument simply does not hold. If The Kashmir Files can exist, if The Kerala Story can exist, why can they exist without being labelled tools for international forces? Why is our film the chosen one that will suddenly be misused by extreme elements? You cannot jump to far-fetched, paranoid conclusions just to suppress a straightforward biography. It makes absolutely no sense," he said.

Satluj tells the story of Jaswant Singh Khalra, a bank clerk who became Punjab's most prominent human rights activist after investigating the cremation of around 25,000 unidentified bodies in the state between 1984 and 1994. 

He was abducted in 1995 and later found to have been killed by Punjab Police personnel.

The film is produced by Ronnie Screwvala and Abhishek Chaubey under RSVP and MacGuffin Pictures, and also stars Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan.