The trailer of Punjab’ 95, a Diljit Dosanjh film in which he portrays human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, has been released by Ronnie Screwvala’s production company RSVP Movies. The movie will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023. According to reports, the premiere date of the film is September 11.
Punjab 95, directed by Honey Trehan, also stars Arjun Rampal and Suvinder Vicky, who has received a lot of praise for his prominent part in the Netflix series Kohhra. The movie, which was originally titled Ghallughara, made headlines after its producers sued the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) for delaying the censor certificate for more than six months and mandating 21 edits.
Dosanjh shared his first look on Instagram and wrote, “Waheguruji da Khalsa, Waheguruji di Fateh! World Premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Presenting the first look of Punjab ‘95, a compelling story based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra Ji.”
The role of Jaswant Singh Khalra, a human rights activist, was crucial in unearthing proof that the police had kidnapped, killed, and cremated thousands of unidentified people during the days of terrorism in Punjab.
Working as a bank director and living in Amritsar, Khalra was one of several Sikhs who saw police brutality when terrorism was at its peak. Police officers could arrest individuals for whatever reason and were even involved in the killing of unarmed civilians thanks to the Punjab Police receiving extensive extrajudicial powers from the Indira Gandhi-led Centre government.
Global protests were prompted by Khalra’s study on 25,000 illegal cremations that took place in Punjab during the mid-1980s and mid-1990s during the height of the insurgency.
This led the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to the conclusion that 2097 persons had been illegally cremated by the Punjab police in the Tarn Taran district.
In the year 1995, Khalra suddenly disappeared. The Punjab Police first regarded Khalra’s death as a suicide, but in 2005, six Punjab police officers were found guilty and given seven years in prison for kidnapping and killing Khalra.