Jul 10, 2026 12:00 pm IST

Opinion | Satluj To Santosh To Padmaavat, How Getting Offended Became India's Favourite Hobby

There are three reasons why films based on real incidents or beloved myths depart from the truth

Kaveree Bamzai Kaveree Bamzai Reporter

Kaveree Bamzai Reporter

Among the many controversies laid bare by Satluj, Honey Trehan's movie about Jaswant Singh Khalra, which played peekaboo with viewers, is the use of fictional names for very real characters, in particular DGP Bitta (DGP KPS Gill) and SP Gugga (SSP Ajit Singh Sandhu). Is it fear of reprisal from the state, especially its permanent establishment, the police force, or the comfort of a much-used device: plausible deniability? If it is the former, it joins the most recent recruit to the protect-the-police club, Santosh, a 2024 film by Sandhya Suri, highlighting police atrocities, much feted abroad but not screened in India because the makers refused to comply with the extensive cuts suggested by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC). If it is the latter, then it is like Schrodinger's cat, simultaneously dead and alive, that is to say, only periodically useful.

There are three reasons why films based on real incidents or beloved myths depart from the truth. Creative licence, which Christopher........

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