Diljit Dosanjh movie Punjab 95 to premiere at TIFF 2023. What you need to know

Punjabi popstar Diljit Dosanjh might be known for his peppy numbers and humorous persona but he can be quite serious when it comes to his acting. When he’s not acting in yet another sequel to Jatt & Juliet, he has also showcased his dramatic prowess in movies like Udta Punjab and Jogi. Now, Punjab 95 seems to be another worthy addition to this list. 

The 2023 edition of Toronto International Film Festival will kick off this September but the diverse lineup is out now, including the global premiere of Dosanjh’s next project as a lead actor. He will be sharing screen space with Arjun Rampal and Suvinder Pal Vicky (who has been garnering recent buzz for a similar cop role in the Netflix crime series Kohrra). 

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Who is the real-life inspiration behind Punjab 95?

Punjab 95 stars Dosanjh as the late human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra. A bank director by profession, the Amritstar native was one of the many Sikhs who bore witness to police brutality in the wake of 1984’s Operation Bluestar. With the Indra Gandhi-led Centre government bestowing immense extrajudicial powers to the Punjab Police, policemen could detain suspects for any reason and were even involved in killing unarmed civilians. 

Khalra made it his life’s goal to document the number of illegal killings and disappearances that happened in the wake of Bluestar, pointing his finger at the Police. Based on his findings, Punjab Police was not just involved in 25,000 illegal killings and cremations but also killing over 2,000 police officers who refused to comply with their methods. 

His activism clearly put his life in jeopardy and in the year 1995, Khalra was forcibly detained by the cops as he was washing his car. Detained at the Jhabal Police Station, he mysteriously disappeared even as many witnesses came forward, implicating the then Director General (DG) of Punjab Police Kanwal Pal Singh Gill as orchestrating his abduction (and eventual death). 

A CBI probe sought to investigate Khalra’s case further in 1996 but it was only in 2005 when any direct culprits could be nabbed. 

On 18 November 2005, six Punjab police officials were convicted and sentenced to seven years imprisonment for Khalra's abduction and murder. Then, in 2007, a division bench of Punjab and Haryana High Court extended the sentence to life imprisonment for four accused: Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh, Jasbir Singh (all former sub inspectors) and Prithipal Singh (former head constable).

Given that 1995 was the year of Khalra’s demise, Punjab 95 might focus mainly on the final year of Khalra’s life. Arjun Rampal’s role is unclear at the moment but considering that Surinder Pal Vicky is donning a khaki turban, it’s clear that he would be yet again playing a police official after Kohrra (he can probably star as the DG Kanwal Gill). 

Who is directing Punjab 95?

Punjab 95 is Honey Trehan’s second feature film as a director after 2021’s Raat Akeli Hai, a crime thriller starring Nawazuddin Siddiqui that was released directly on Netflix. Trehan has previously served as a casting director for Talvar, Delhi Belly, Tumbbad, Udta Punjab and many more Hindi films. 

What Punjab 95 means to Dosanjh

This has been a great year for Dosanjh’s global presence. First, there was his stint at the Coachella, making him the first Indian artist to perform at the renowned music festival. Now, with Punjab 95 opening at TIFF 2023, he gets an opportunity to recreate the life of a significant figure in Punjab’s modern history. 

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After playing a cop fighting Punjab’s drug menace in Udta Punjab, Dosanjh starred in Jogi as a working class Sikh who goes through the 1984 anti-Sikh riots in Delhi. He has made his sympathies for the victims of the post-Bluestar victims publicly evident, as can be seen from his appearance at Rajeev Masand’s Actor’s Roundtable where he corrected the critic to address these “riots” as “a genocide”. 

India’s experience at TIFF

While Indian movies haven’t competed much in the history of TIFF, many have received acclaimed premieres at the festival. Just last year, the film festival bore witness to Nandita Das’s Zwigato that starred Kapil Sharma as a deliveryman affected by the pandemic and Rima Das’s Tora’s Husband, her anticipated third directorial feature after Village Rockstars and Bulbul Can Sing. While We Watched, the documentary centering on the career of former NDTV anchor Ravish Sharma was also screened at TIFF 2022. 

The first-ever Indian movie to be screened at the TIFF was Satyajit Ray’s Hindi-language drama Shatranj Ke Khiladi (The Chess Players) that was screened in the festivals’s Classic Comedy Section in 1981. Meanwhile, Anurag Kashyap holds the distinction of being the most-featured Indian director at TIFF having four of his directorial ventures screened at the festival (The Girl In Yellow Boots, Gangs of Wasseypur, Mukkabaaz, Manmarziyan). Even two of his projects as producers (the 2011 Hindi psychological thriller Michael and the 2021 Malayalam drama Paka: River of Blood) have earned buzz at Toronto’s film showcase.