Attracting controversy earlier than its launch, the Indian movie Punjab ’95 has been faraway from the lineup for the 2023 version of the Toronto International Film Festival or TIFF, the place it was scheduled for its world premiere.

The removal of the film, starring singer-actor Diljit Dosanjh, directed by Honey Trehan, was reported by the industry journals Variety and Screen Daily.

Screen reported that a Festival spokesperson confirmed “that it is no longer part of the programme. The festival would not comment further on the reasons behind its withdrawal.”

All references to the film have been removed from TIFF’s web site together with the tweet saying its choice on July 24.

The movie is a biopic about Punjab-based human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who disappeared in 1995. A decade later, six Punjab Police personnel had been convicted for his homicide.

Khalra centered on documenting the disappearance of hundreds in Punjab through the peak interval of the Khalistan motion within the state. The movie had already run into hassle in India, because the Central Board of Film Certification took almost seven months to supply it with a censor certificates, after demanding a number of cuts and a change of the unique identify, Ghallughara.

That time period has been utilized to massacres of Sikhs by historical past, and at occasions additionally used for the anti-Sikh pogroms in 1984 after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her safety guards in New Delhi.

According to the Screen report CBFC felt that “certain parts of the film could incite violence and may potentially radicalise Sikh youth while affecting the integrity of India and its relations with foreign states.”

After the announcement of the world premiere at TIFF, director Honey Trehan had tweeted, “Presenting the first look of Punjab ‘95, a compelling story based on the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.”