Anurag Kashyap says ban on Diljit Dosanjh's Satluj has made more people want to watch it: ‘Now I'll have to watch’

Anurag Kashyap shared that, in his view, banning Satluj has only made people more curious about it.

After facing a three-year censorship battle with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Satluj premiered on ZEE5 on Friday, only to be taken down from the streaming platform just two days after it started streaming, without any official explanation.

Anurag Kashyap on Diljit Dosanjh's Satluj ban.

Anurag on Satluj

Many have objected to the treatment of Diljit's film, and recently filmmaker Anurag Kashyap took to Instagram to show his support for the film. He also shared that, in his view, banning the film has only made people more curious about it, with more and more viewers now wanting to watch it.

Taking to Instagram, Anurag wrote, "The thing about banning something is that the more you ban something, the more people want to watch it. I was not even planning to watch this film but now I will have to watch to understand why it got banned."

Anurag Kashyap on Satluj ban.

Ram Gopal Varma reviews Satluj

Filmmaker Ram Gopal Varma also shared his review of the Diljit Dosanjh film on X (formerly Twitter). 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,” wrote the filmmaker, adding, “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 also praised the film's director Honey Trehan and wrote, "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 filmmaker called it "courageous essential filmmaking." He even requested the authorities not to censor the film.

About Satluj

Satluj is set in Punjab in 1995 and follows the story of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra and how he disappears after uncovering allegations that the Punjab Police had killed and illegally cremated nearly 25,000 bodies.

The film was originally meant to release in theatres, but after the CBFC reportedly asked for 125 cuts, the makers refused to comply and shelved its theatrical release. After remaining unreleased for three years, the film quietly premiered on ZEE5, only to be taken down within two days.