The Wire Staff 
New Delhi: In a fresh blow for Diljit Dosanjh-starrer Punjab ‘95, the Central Board of Film Certification (CFBC) has increased the proposed cuts in the film from 85 to 120.
Punjab ‘95 is a biopic on human rights activist Jaswant Khalra. Among the most prominent changes proposed by the CBFC is the renaming of Khalra’s character, Mid-day reported.
Official poster for Punjab ’95.
CBFC has also reportedly asked the makers, Honey Trehan and Ronnie Screwvala, to drop Punjab ‘95 as the film’s name – a reference to the year Khalra died. The activist had disappeared in September, 1995 and six Punjab police officials were convicted for his murder 10 years later.
“Per the CBFC’s suggestion, the film will now be called Sutlej, denoting the river that unites Punjab. There are a total of almost 120 changes. The most pivotal change is to not call the protagonist Jaswant Singh anymore,”Mid-day quoted an anonymous source familiar with the matter as saying.
Trehan and Screwvala are said to have told the board that making this change would be deemed disrespectful by the Sikh community who see Khalra as a martyr. The film revolves around Khalra’s role in investigating the disappearance and killing of Sikh youths during the Punjab insurgency between 1984 and 1994.
“Removing his name will be disrespectful not just to him and his family, but to the entire community,” the source said. The makers also pointed out that the film also won’t remain a biopic if the protagonists’ name is changed.
“The CBFC also stated that the movie cannot claim to be based on real-life incidents as they felt it would lead to ‘swaying of sentiments’,” the source told the paper.
Among other changes asked by the CBFC is a scene comprising of Gurbani which is to be deleted. The board has said that any mention of Punjab and the district of Tarn Taran is to be dropped along with any reference to the national flag, Canada or the UK.
The makers were told that if they comply with these changes, the film will be approved before the end of this week.
A final meeting is slated to take place today, where Trehan and Screwvala will appeal to the CBFC against some of the suggested modifications, the paper reported.
The film was first screened for the board in 2022 when it had asked for 22 cuts. Screwvala had appealed against the board’s decision but eventually settled the matter outside of court.
“The makers had eventually decided to pursue an out-of-court settlement. In an earlier meeting, the revising committee asked them to alter a line in the film, where the protagonist remarks that over 25,000 people have been killed in Punjab. The committee stated that the number be reduced. But Honey and Ronnie had opposed it, noting that all the facts shown in the film were based on real-life testimonies and the CBI court’s judgment from the ’90s,” added the source.