"If we had promoted it, the film would definitely not have been released at all," he said.
Director Honey Trehan had previously expressed frustration with the censorship board's demands to remove real-world references and scenes of police violence.
"Anything that was a reference to reality was to be removed," Trehan told Scroll and New Lines Magazine.
Following the government takedown order, he told The Indian Express, "I am at a loss right now."
The sudden removal drew sharp condemnation from political figures in Punjab, where the historical memory of the insurgency remains deeply sensitive ahead of the 2027 Assembly election.
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Shiromani Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal criticized the intervention, labeling it an assault on collective memory, truth, and freedom of expression.
