Director Honey Trehan’s film Punjab ’95, based on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra’s life, faces an ongoing battle with the Censor Board, which has demanded over 127 cuts.

Director Honey Trehan‘s hard-hitting controversial film Punjab ’95, based on the life of Sikh human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, remains stuck at the Censor Board.

“By stopping the release of such a film,””CBFC is not only challenging the film, they are also challenging the Constitution and the courts of India.”

Your brilliant film on the excesses of the police force during the peak of militancy finds itself stuck at the Censor Board. What is the current position of your film? Is there any hope of its release?

First of all, thank you for calling this a brilliant film. Perhaps this is what the heads of the CBFC (Central Board Of Film Certification) are not getting.

The film talks about both sides of the coin.

We have good and bad people in every field, so it is in the police force and the CBFC.

The film largely talks about human rights and how some police officers during the insurgency period of Punjab took the liberty of misusing their power and Jaswant Singh Khalra was the whistleblower to their atrocities.

Punjab ’95 being stuck with the CBFC is very unfortunate, and beyond our understanding. The film is based on legal documents, proceedings, testimonies and all the judgements given by the honourable Punjab and Haryana high court, the sessions court, CBI special court, and by the Supreme Court of India.

By stopping the release of such a film, CBFC is not only challenging the film, they are also challenging the Constitution and the courts of India. They are challenging the democracy of the country, freedom of speech and expression of an artist. It’s a violation of Article 19, 1(a).

What is the solution?

What the Punjab police did in 1995, the CBFC is doing the same thing now by abducting Jaswant Singh Khalra again. But we are here to Challenge the Darkness and I believe justice will happen someday and this film will see the light of the day.

How long will the CBFC carry on this radio silence? I request the central government to intervene and to bring the justice to Khalra.

Inspiration Behind the Film

What prompted you to make a film on such a powerful controversial subject?

It was a very inspiring subject, the CBFC has made it controversial.

For me, this is a story of human rights, the story of selflessness, the story of sacrifice, martyrdom.

This is a story of one of the Constitution’s greatest acts of justice.It shows our courts and Constitution in a great light. It gives us great hope towards justice and strengthens our faith in our Constitution.

Censorial Imbroglio and Cuts

Were you surprised when Punjab ’95 got into a censorial imbroglio?

I was shocked by the behaviour of the CBFC. Firstly, they refused to believe that any such thing happened. Later, when we submitted the paperwork and legal documents, the head of the revising committee had the audacity to ask, ‘Who speaks the truth so loudly, Trehan?’

Yes, so now speaking the truth has become a crime in this country for the CBFC. Later, even after the matter went to the high court and their lawyers couldn’t give any convincing arguments on why the film was being stopped, they started putting pressure on my producers.

Later, my producers were forced to withdraw the matter from the high court and do out-of-court settlement. The battle is still going on even after 22 months.

How many cuts does the CBFC want to give the film a clean chit?

It started with 21 cuts and now, we are at 127 plus cuts. The producers were even forced to withdraw the film from TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) and other film festivals.

Casting and Diljit Dosanjh’s Role

Were all these actors your first choices?

That’s the benefit of being a casting director earlier.

Taran Bajaj, who played Dilbag, the assassin, has been a great support in casting. He is a great actor and an independent casting director.

I have been blessed with the actors, the way they have put in their faith in me it’s incredible. At times, I do feel that by not releasing the film, it’s a great injustice to their love, trust and hard work.

Diljit Dosanjh finds himself in yet another controversial film.

We live in the country where everything becomes political in no time. We have seen enough of Diljit Dosanjh by now to understand what kind of a soul he is. At times, circumstances are not in our control so we should be wise enough to understand the situation rather than give a knee jerk reaction.

Diljit is one of the most loved and respected global artists from our country, who brings the Indian flag on every stage he performs on. He brought respect to this nation and proved his love for the country time and again.

He gets invited by the prime minister of our country and other countries for his work and achievements. Raising a question on such person’s integrity and intentions makes us small, and narrows our thinking.