Diljit Dosanjh has been in the eye of the storm ever since June 23, 2025, when he shared the trailer of his recently released film, Sardaar Ji 3. The outrage was over Pakistani actress Hania Aamir being a part of the film, amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the horrific Pahalgam attack on April 22, 2025.
Amid the high-end controversy surrounding Sardaar Ji 3, there was another Diljit Dosanjh movie that was battling its share of rejections and obstacles. It is director Honey Trehan’s Punjab ’95. The film was first submitted to the CBFC in December 2022. Two and a half years later, the film is still fighting to get a release date. The Central Board for Film Certification had asked the makers for 127 cuts in the film, but there’s no further word from them on that.
A larger section of the online population was made aware of the film and the silent battle that it has been fighting, on the sidelines of the Hania Aamir-Diljit Dosanjh controversy.
In a recent interview, director Honey Trehan reacted to the sudden buzz about Punjab ’95 that surged with the focus on Sardaar Ji 3.
He said, “It went on for a week, and it died down because the government came in and extended their support to Diljit Dosanjh, and everything happened now. The people who were so vocal on social media, where are they now? It has all died down.”
He adds, “So, it’s just when the government takes the right decision, when they come in support or to protect the artist and their freedom of speech, other people will understand.”
In light of how the CBFC has been an integral part in these films that are struggling for a variety of reasons, be it Punjab ’95 or Sardaar Ji 3 lately, Honey Trehan elaborates that the “CBFC has also been given extra powers which are misused”.
He says, “That’s how politics plays a role. Now every controversy has died down.” Honey Trehan says, “The film has had a great opening worldwide, not just in Pakistan. So I don’t understand, when you’re stopping the film from releasing, whose loss is it? You’re trying to stop a film in a market like India.”
“We don’t even know what the CBFC wants, there’s radio silence.”
He adds, “When I met the head of the Revision committee, after watching everything, he tallied everything with the papers. All the cards were in place, and he looked at me, and I was like, ‘now what?’ It’s like, earlier, speaking the truth used to be appreciated, but now it has become a blame game.”
