The controversy around Diljit Dosanjh’s Satluj continues to grow by the hour. After getting a guerilla release (sudden drop on Zee5 without any prior information or promotions, three years after being stuck at the Censor Board level), Diljit went live on Instagram and claimed that the viewers should watch and download it before it is pulled down.
And his prediction came true- it was indeed pulled from the streaming platform without any concrete reason on Sunday evening. The statement from Zee5 simply attributed it to, “…in light if the current developments, Satluj will be unavailable in India until further notice.” Diljit, meanwhile has encouraged his fans to circulate pirated copies of the film, even as Zee5 requested fans to wait till they bring the film back. Satluj, earlier titled Panjab’95, revolves around the disappearance of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra in 1995.
This isn’t the first time an Indian web show or film has had to face trouble. While any legal issues are yet to be declared for Satluj, we revisit some past OTT projects which got entangled:
Tandav
This political thriller series starred Saif Ali Khan, Dimple Kapadia and Sunil Grover. The controversy began when the show was accused of hurting religious sentiments by mocking Lord Shiva in one of the episodes. Boycott calls and multiple FIRs later, the show’s creator Ali Abbas Zafar issued an apology and agreed to edit out the objectionable scenes. It continues to stream on Prime Video.
IC 814 The Kandahar Hijack
This Vijay Varma-Patralekhaa starrer got into hot water for naming it’s two characters after Hindu Gods. The story revolved around the real-life hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight 814 by five terrorists. The show changed the original names of two of them to code names, which were Hindu- Bhola and Shankar. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting asked Netflix, on which the show continues to air, to have its content chief appear and offer an explanation. The platform responded by saying it will include a disclaimer about the real and code names.
Ghooskhor Pandat
The title of Manoj Bajpayee’s film got into trouble this year. As soon as the promotional material came out, it sparked protests for hurting the religious sentiments of Brahmins. The association of bribery with pandits didn’t go down well. The filmmakers apologised and agreed to a title change, apart from removing all released assets.
The Ba***ds of Bollywood
Aryan Khan’s The Ba***ds of Bollywood found itself at the centre of controversy after its release. Former NCB officer Sameer Wankhede filed a defamation suit, alleging that a character in the series was a malicious portrayal of him and sought damages. Separately, a scene featuring actor Ranbir Kapoor using an e-cigarette also drew complaints.