Dear Trehan The company, which recently explained its elaborate plan to circumvent its four-year-old battle with the CBFC, released Diljit Dosanjh starrer “Satluj” (previously known as “Punjab 95”) directly online on Friday night without any cuts. But about 105 minutes into the speech, the film disappeared. The streamer issued a statement saying the show has been removed and will not be available to watch in India “until further notice”.
Honey Trehan on how secret digital airdrops are done
In an interview with India’s The Hollywood Reporter, Trehan shared the details behind the film’s digital premiere. When asked how the entire launch was done in such secrecy, with no one having any clue until the notification was issued on Friday and created an uproar online, Honey explained, “A lot of quick operational heavy lifting between RSVP and ZEE is being done behind closed doors. Frankly, a part of my brain had lost confidence that it would happen. I keep praying but you build a wall of cynicism. Even at 6:00 pm on Friday, I sent a message to the team asking: “Did this really happen tonight?” The only person other than the company’s core team who knew about this drop was Diljit. As I pressed the “send” button on my anxious reply text message, a message flashed up from Diljit Paaji saying, “Paaji, it’s really going to be released tonight.” It felt like pure telepathy. A lot of the credit goes to ZEE for its success; I have nothing but great respect for how they champion this. “
Honey Trehan on RSVP’s long-term association with OTT platforms
When asked when discussions with ZEE5 actually started, he shared, “ZEE5 has been a great partner to RSVP. We built Sonchiriya together under the leadership of Macguffin and RSVP, and Kedarnath has also done that as a partner with ZEE, so it’s a long-term relationship. It’s not just a matter of one or two projects; they have a long-term relationship with one or two projects. But originally, we had every intention of releasing the film theatrically. We hope it will engage audiences on the big screen. Over time, however, obstacles continued to mount. It’s an endless cycle of: “Cut this, delete that, change this part.” Frustratingly, I haven’t received any legitimate, logical explanation from CFBC as to why these cuts are being requested. “
Honey Trehan’s final call to go digital
Asked what ultimately pushed them to go the digital route, he said: “The response we got was a lack of legitimacy at all. We waited and eventually got to the court, but nothing changed. During this long period of stagnation, Ronnie [Screwvala] Sir together with ZEE made a clear decision to go directly to digital. On streaming platforms, you are not strictly required to have a CBFC drama certificate. When ZEE came on board, they really loved the film and insisted it needed to be released. In a way, they adopted an abandoned child. Since its release, the film has received immense love and global goodwill. I didn’t even have time to shower today; my phone keeps buzzing with people reacting to it. The audience celebrated this release more enthusiastically than I did, so it was really important for me to get back to them when I could. “
