Indian Filmmakers Fear Rising Censorship as Film Is Blocked

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Censors demanded cut after cut, he said, eventually asking for 127 alterations before he gave up and took the film, “Satluj,” to a streaming platform earlier this month.Author of the article: You can save this article by registering for free here. Or sign-in if you have an account.Diljit Dosanjh Photographer: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images Photo by Michael Loccisano /Photographer: Michael Loccisano/(Bloomberg) — For roughly four years, Honey Trehan went back and forth with Indian film authorities trying to get his movie about a Sikh human rights activist into theaters. Censors demanded cut after cut, he said, eventually asking for 127 alterations before he gave up and took the film, “Satluj,” to a streaming platform earlier this month. 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The Press Trust of India reported that the government asked the streaming platform to remove the film over “security concerns,” citing unnamed officials. “This is not the sign of a healthy nation,” Trehan said in an interview. He accused India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of removing the film for political reasons. “They are using it as a backdoor entry to enter into the film industry and to control the narrative,” he said. Get the latest headlines, breaking news and columns.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of Top Stories will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try againThe film’s release and later withdrawal is the latest flashpoint in a debate over what critics and filmmakers say is a rising tide of censorship in Indian cinema under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, prompting questions about which stories filmmakers in the world’s largest movie-producing nation are and aren’t allowed to tell. Film authorities are demanding changes to more movies. Official figures presented to Parliament show 3,033 films in fiscal-year 2025 required cuts or modifications before being cleared for audiences, more than doubling from four years earlier. The data don’t specify what changes were ordered or why. India’s main film certification body, the Central Board of Film Certification, hasn’t published a standalone annual report detailing its activities since 2017.Film censorship has existed in India for decades, tracing its roots to colonial-era laws. But some observers say the current moment marks a shift. “The politics of the country has taken a sharp turn since the advent of Modi in 2014, and Bollywood is facing the downstream effects,” said Sadanand Dhume, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations who writes about South Asian politics and society.India is among a small number of major democracies where a government-appointed film body directly controls what a film’s audiences can see. Unlike the age-based rating systems used in the US and much of Europe, India’s film board can demand edits before a film can be publicly exhibited, giving it a direct role in shaping what audiences see. Elsewhere, classification systems generally determine age suitability, leaving final decisions over content largely to filmmakers and distributors.In an email, CBFC Chairperson Shashi Shekhar Vempati said the board doesn’t comment on the certification of individual films. India’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, under which the film board functions, told Parliament in December that cuts are only made if the content violates the “sovereignty and integrity of India, security, public order, decency, morality, defamation, contempt of court or incitement to offence.” The film board has certified nearly 72,000 films over the last five years, the ministry said. This advertisement has not loaded yet.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Starring Punjabi superstar Diljit Dosanjh, “Satluj” focuses on the life of Jaswant Singh Khalra, a Sikh human-rights activist who documented extrajudicial killings and police brutality during a bloody counterinsurgency campaign in India’s northern Punjab state during the 1980s and 1990s. The crackdown effectively stamped out what was then a violent Sikh independence movement in the state. But decades on, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party remains fiercely suspicious of separatism, while the Sikh independence movement has gained renewed attention since Canada accused Indian government agents of involvement in the 2023 killing of a Sikh activist in Vancouver.In recent years, several films have faced pressure to make cuts — both before and after release. In 2025, India’s film board accepted 24 post-release cuts to “L2: Empuraan,” a Malayalam-language blockbuster, after Hindu nationalist groups objected to its depiction of 2002 religious riots. Last year, filmmakers were asked to remove caste-related language from “Phule,” a biopic of 19th-century caste reformers, while “Homebound,” India’s 2026 Academy Awards submission, was cleared only after 11 cuts targeting caste and religious references.Indian films that deal in patriotic themes have little trouble passing censors. “Dhurandhar,” a 2025 spy thriller depicting Indian intelligence operations against Pakistan, cleared certification with routine trims for violence and became the highest-grossing Hindi-language film of all time.“I feel that it’s one of the worst phases of Indian cinema because the variety of cinema, the kind of narratives that one wants to see, all kinds of stories — that is disappearing slowly,” said filmmaker Onir, who goes by one name. Onir said he too has faced growing demands for cuts to his movies. In his 2023 film “Pine Cone,” the censorship board flagged the word “gay” in a scene involving a 9-year-old, he said. The film was only cleared after he removed the dialogue. Despite the barriers, “Satluj” is still finding its way to audiences. In May, Trehan, 47, held a private screening of the film alongside the Cannes Film Festival. The film had earlier been selected for the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023, but was withdrawn by its makers before its scheduled premiere, which Trehan has said was a byproduct of the legal battle with India’s censors.“I was very heartbroken,” Trehan said. “I was having five gala premieres at Toronto.”Even in Punjab, the film is being screened in Sikh temples, community centers and village squares by fans who downloaded it before it disappeared from ZEE5. “The film is getting screened — Hindu, Sikh, every caste, rich, poor, all sitting together,” he said. “It became a celebration,” Trehan added. “What this film did, it brought the entire Punjab together.”Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.