Jalandhar: Embroiled in controversies right from the beginning, Bollywood actor and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP from Mandi parliamentary constituency Kangana Ranaut’s film Emergency was not screened at most of the cinemas across Punjab following a protest call given by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandak Committee (SGPC). The film was released on January 17 (Friday).
Initially, the film was scheduled for release on September 6, 2024 but was postponed following the clearance row with the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) as SGPC and various Sikh organisations alleged that it misrepresented the Sikhs.
Written and directed by Ranaut, the biographical drama is based on the period of emergency in India imposed by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1975 to 1977.
Notably, Punjab’s insurgency period has remained a subject of study and deep dive on celluloid for the sheer fact that justice eluded the victims till date and the wounds of the past could never heal.
Diljit Dosanjh’s film Panjab ‘95 on a human rights activist not to release in India
Renowned actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh’s much awaited film Panjab ‘95’s trailer was released on January 17 night.
Sharing the trailer of the film on his social media handles, Dosanjh mentioned: “Panjab ’95 releasing internationally only in theatres on 7th of February 2025. P.S. Full Movie, No Cuts #Challengethedarkness.”
ਪੰਜਾਬ ‘95
Releases in Cinemas internationally only on 7th February
AdvertisementFull Movie, No Cuts 🪔 pic.twitter.com/jtvLVliloB
— DILJIT DOSANJH (@diljitdosanjh) January 17, 2025
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As the name suggests, Panjab ‘95 is a film about the life and struggle of prominent human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who documented 25,000 illegal killings and identified 2,000 police officials who refused to cooperate in extrajudicial killings during the militancy era. The film’s trailer and songs have moving details and visuals of what transpired in Punjab during the early 1990s.
Jaswant Khalra hailed from Khalra village in Tarn Taran district. He was abducted from outside his house and murdered in 1995. A decade later, six police officers were convicted for kidnapping and murdering him.
Notably, Panjab ‘95 remained embroiled in a long dispute with the censor board, delaying its release. Initially, the CBFC had proposed 85 cuts in the film but later increased it to 120 despite intervention by the SGPC. The board also directed the makers to change the name of the film to Sutlej, which the directors refused.
The film was selected for premiere at Toronto Film Festival in 2023 but was removed from the list by the organisers, disappointing the audiences.
Directed by Honey Trehan and produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Panjab ‘95 stars Arjun Rampal, Kanwaljit Singh, Savinderpal Vicky, Geetika Vidya and Jagjeet Sandhu among others.
Reacting to the film’s international release, Paramjit Kaur Khalra, the wife of Jaswant Singh Khalra told The Wire, “It was our commitment that the film should be released without cuts, hence it is being released on February 7, 2025 internationally but not in India.”
“We waited for two to three years for the release of the film against the state, fought a long battle but it could not be released. When the film’s essence has been done away with, then what was the point of releasing it? The film is releasing internationally, it will reach the audiences in India through social media,” she said, adding that “we all know the stature of Diljit’s work, the film has been made with our permission and they have shown the truth.”
On Ranaut’s film Emergency and its ban in Punjab, Paramjit Kaur Khalra said, “She is a BJP MP, why would the government stop her. Our concern was that her film should not be released in Punjab and we ensured its ban.”
Notably, Dosanjh has worked in a similar film – Punjab 1984 – based on militancy earlier too. Punjab 1984 is a story of a mother and her missing son. The film subtly touched the subject of militancy without directly questioning the state.
SGPC ensures ban on Emergency
On Friday, the SGPC and various other Sikh organisations held protests outside cinema halls across Punjab and stopped the release of Emergency. The call for state-wide protest was given by SGPC president and advocate Harjinder Singh Dhami.
Seeing the protest by SGPC, the cinema managers decided on their own not to release the film, after which the protest ended. The screening of the film was banned in all major cities of Punjab – Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Bathinda, and state capital Chandigarh.
In Amritsar, protests were held at PVR Cinema (Sooraj Chanda Tara), Trillium Mall and Alpha One Mall against the film, which were led by SGPC chief secretary Kulwant Singh Mannan, member advocate Bhagwant Singh Sialka, Bhai Ajaib Singh Abhyasi and secretary Partap Singh.
Speaking on the occasion, Mannan said Sikh characters have been portrayed in a wrong way in Emergency, regarding which the SGPC had raised objections even earlier.
Welcoming the decision of the cinema management to not screen the film after the SGPC protests, Mannan said that it is unfortunate that the Punjab government did not take any step to stop the film screening. He said that if anyone tried to screen the film, the SGPC would protest again.
Also read: The Films that Get the BJP Government’s Support – and the Films That Don’t
In its recent statement, the SGPC mentioned that the film suppressed the issue of 1984 deadly attack on Sri Harmandir Sahib, the holy shrine of the Sikhs, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Sikh massacre and genocide and anti-Sikh agenda with the spirit of spewing venom against the community. Along with this, the character assassination of the community’s martyr, Sant Jarnail Singh Khalsa Bhindranwale was also been done in the film, which cannot be tolerated, the SGPC added.
Questioning the portrayal of Bhindranwale in the film, SGPC secretary Partap Singh said: “Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale got martyred fighting for the sake of the Sikh community. He is our community’s martyr and we cannot tolerate anybody showing him in poor light. In the film, Bhindranwale has been shown as hand in gloves with the Indira Gandhi-led Congress government. How can this be true? He laid his life for the sake of ‘Qaum’ and the film is showing him closely associated with Indira Gandhi. Above all, Bhindrawale gained recognition during Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1981 whereas emergency was imposed in 1975. It is out of context to correlate the two subjects; hence we banned the film in Punjab.”
However, there are mixed views about Bhindranwale’s role in Punjab’s history and politics. His rise as a prominent Sikh figure and the armed struggle that ensued in Punjab is generally attributed to the political turmoil in the agrarian state. While some, particularly a section of the Sikhs worship him as a hero, others term him as an extremist, who pushed Punjab into a spiral of mess.
Partap Singh emphasised, “For some he might be a militant but for us he is our hero. A real Sikh would nor rethink [about] following Bhindranwale. He is our pride.”
Earlier on January 16, the SGPC president had also written a letter to Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann asking him to completely ban the film in Punjab. “We had clearly stated that Emergency film will not be allowed to be screened in Punjab because it has been made in a conspiratorial manner with the aim of defaming Sikhs. However, the Punjab government did not take any steps to stop the film,” Dhami said.
Kangana Ranaut vents ire against ban on film in Punjab
On January 16, Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira took to X and shared a post supporting the SGPC’s call and shared a letter written to chief minister Mann demanding a ban on Emergency.
I support the demand of @SGPCAmritsar to ban the film Emergency directed by @KanganaTeam a known critic of farmers & Sikhs without knowing their contribution towards our country.
SGPC is our elected representative body and @BhagwantMann should take immediate steps to ban the… https://t.co/2iLgn5M3LI
— Sukhpal Singh Khaira (@SukhpalKhaira) January 17, 2025
Noticing the state-wide ban and protests against her film, Ranaut reposted Khaira’s comment and wrote on X: “This is complete harassment of art and the artist, from Punjab many cities are reporting that these people are not allowing Emergency to be screened. I have utmost respect for all religions and after studying and growing up in Chandigarh I have closely observed and followed Sikh religion. This is a complete lie and propaganda to tarnish my image and harm my film #Emergency.”
This is complete harassment of art and the artist, from Punjab many cities are reporting that these people are not allowing Emergency to be screened.
I have utmost respect for all religions and after studying and growing up in Chandigarh I have closely observed and followed Sikh… https://t.co/VQEWMqiFih— Kangana Ranaut (@KanganaTeam) January 17, 2025
Earlier in a podcast with Shubhankar Mishra ahead of the film’s release, Ranaut targeted Dosanjh for defending those (farmers) who created ruckus during the farmers’ protests against the now repealed three farm laws.
“He was the main person at the forefront defending those creating ruckus,” she said, adding that, despite this she was not disappointed with the prime minister’s meeting with Diljit. “I am not disappointed. I have never met him. Maybe I have met him just once and said namaste but never interacted with him. For him (PM) everybody is an equal in the public.”
‘Emergency is factually incorrect’
Pointing out some factual mistakes in Emergency, senior journalist Jaspal Singh Sidhu said that Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale came to notice in April 1978 after the Sikh-Nirankari clash in Amritsar while Emergency was imposed from June 25, 1975 to March 21, 1977.
“In another scene in the film, Bhindranwale has been shown coming out of Ferozepur jail during the emergency period. However, he was arrested in the year 1981 after the killing of Lala Jagat Narain and remained in Ferozepur jail for around five-six months. It is factually incorrect to connect these key incidents with the period of emergency. The actor has also touched upon the subject of militancy in Punjab in the film but it is not related to the period of Emergency,” he said.
Terming the film’s theme as irrelevant, Sidhu said why Ranaut dragged these subjects in the film is clear now.
“It is nothing but a propaganda and an anti-Congress narrative film meant to defame the Sikhs. I am of the view that through such films, the BJP tries to gain support for its Hindutva ideology. Emergency name appears to be an attempt to blame Indira Gandhi. We all know that the BJP never misses any chance of pursuing its political agenda of ‘Congress mukt Bharat’ and films are one of the tools being used by them to serve that purpose these days. Emergency too appears to be in sync with their political narrative,” he added.
On Panjab ‘95, Sidhu said that though he has no idea how it has been made, it is not a propaganda film rather an anti-state subject.
“It is disheartening to see that despite Supreme Court intervention and compensations awarded to the families of missing youths or those who were killed in fake encounters, the state never acknowledged these killings. Panjab ‘95, which is based on the life and tragic end of Jaswant Singh Khalra is an attempt to bring [the] state’s crimes to the public,” he shared.
