After bringing to screen national and human interest stories like National Award-winning Uri: The Surgical Strike, Sonchiriya, The Sky Is Pink, Rashmi Rocket and A Thursday, the makers of these films are looking forward to showcasing yet another real-life drama. It is a biopic of prominent human rights activist, Jaswant Singh Khalra, produced by Ronnie Screwvala, Abhishek Chaubey and Honey Trehan. The film is directed by Trehan and stars actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh in the lead role. While the title of the film is yet to be finalized, but before its release the upcoming biopic faces a major hurdle.
An industry source revealed that the makers have been waiting for the censor clearance for the release of the film for the past six months. According to the source, “RSVP applied for a Censor Certificate in December 2022, and it was sent to the Review Committee. The team shared all the necessary paperwork requested and went through the process diligently, but with no resolution from the CBFC, they finally approached the Bombay High Court on Wednesday (June 14)."
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Jaswant Singh Khalra was a prominent Sikh human rights activist. He is the one who found evidence of the abduction, elimination and cremation of thousands of unidentified dead bodies by the police. He also reportedly executed 2000 of his officers who refused to cooperate with these extrajudicial tasks. The Jaswant Singh Khalra investigation triggered worldwide protests and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) concluded that the Punjab Police had illegally cremated 2097 people in the Tarn Taran district of Punjab alone.
The Supreme Court of India and the National Human Rights Commission have certified the validity of its data.
Jaswant Singh Khalra was last seen in September 1995. A case of murder, kidnapping and criminal conspiracy was registered on the complaint of his wife Paramjit Kaur. Taking strong note of the "heinous crime" committed by four police officers in "eliminating" human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, active in bringing to light extrajudicial killings in Tarn Taran and Amritsar districts, the Punjab and Haryana court on October 16, 2007, enhanced the sentence of the four accused, former head constable Prithvipal Singh, former sub-inspectors Satnam Singh, Surinder Pal Singh and Jasbir Singh, from seven years to life imprisonment.
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Further, the source added, ‘The Jaswant Singh Khalra case is now back in court but this time for the censor certificate. This will be heard on 4th July and Amit Naik, who is also leading the Khalra biopic legal team.’
Incidentally, the 2016 crime drama was written and directed by Abhishek Chaubey. The revising committee of the censor board demanded 89 cuts and removed all references to Punjab. It was later cleared by the Bombay High Court with only one scene edited and with an 'A' certificate.
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