“Hun Ni Rukni Film. Khalra Saab Di Avaaz Nu Koi Ni Dabaa Sakda” (“Now the film will not be stopped. No one can silence Khalra Sahib’s voice”). That was actor Diljit Dosanjh’s message on X after his film Satluj was removed from the OTT platform ZEE5.
In many ways, that is exactly what is happening. While the film is no longer available on its official streaming platform, it continues to circulate online. Pirated copies are readily accessible through a simple Google search and, more prominently, on Telegram, where channels continue to distribute the film.
While taking the film off an OTT platform is relatively straightforward, containing it after release is far harder. Once a copy enters Telegram’s distribution chain, it no longer sits under a single point of control. The file moves through channels, bots, backup groups and third-party links, leaving neither the publisher nor regulators with full control over where it travels next.
The film’s circulation on Telegram is wide. India Today identified at least 37 public channels, groups connected to its piracy trail by querying Telegram’s API for indexed spaces carrying the film’s name and related keywords. Each result was then manually verified to filter out dead links, spam and irrelevant groups, leaving only those actively sharing pirated copies or redirecting users to external download links.
The Telegram piracy network identified had over 12.6 lakh subscribers across channels sharing links to the Dosanjh film.
Almost every channel had a bot associated with it. But the bots did not move alike. Some delivered, some diverted, some quietly regenerated links, all working to keep the network just out of Telegram’s reach.
One channel alone had 10 lakh subscribers. It used a content-delivery bot to push links to its members and to anyone searching for the film.
Users were typically directed to a bot that required a “/start” command and, in many cases, forced joins to one or more Telegram channels before providing download links in multiple resolutions. In these cases, the channels carried no visible messages, leaving little public trail for Telegram’s moderation systems to flag.
At least 33 of the 37 channels identified used this type of content-delivery bot. Other channels had different types of bots, including promotion bots that redirected users to piracy channels, helping operators expand and retain their audience. One dynamic retrieval bot allowed users to search for “Satluj” and instantly receive the pirated copy without browsing through multiple channels.
The findings mirror a broader trend documented in a recent study by researchers from Louisiana State University and the University of Texas at Arlington.
After analysing 1,057 piracy channels and more than 209,000 posts, the researchers found that Telegram’s video piracy ecosystem is deliberately engineered to withstand takedowns by relying on interconnected bots, backup channels and multistage redirection instead of a single distribution point.
The study found that Telegram bots play a central role in making piracy networks harder to detect. Unlike public channels, bots require users to initiate an interaction before revealing pirated content. They can deliver download links, redirect users to other channels or bots, and even require users to join specific channels before granting access. In several cases, bots automatically deleted download messages and disabled forwarding, reducing the visibility and persistence of evidence for automated moderation systems.
The researchers also found that Telegram’s piracy ecosystem is deliberately designed to survive takedowns. Rather than relying on a single channel, operators distribute content through interconnected bots, intermediary channels, and backup channels, while hosting files on external cloud storage services and streaming websites. This layered distribution model ensures that even if one channel or link is removed, users can still access the content through alternate routes, allowing piracy networks to remain operational.
That resilience comes at a cost. The researchers estimate that the piracy ecosystem has inflicted billions of dollars in losses on the global entertainment industry.
More than 19,000 copyrighted movies and television titles circulated across the analysed Telegram piracy network, collectively attracting over 4.85 billion views. Based on a conservative estimate of actual content consumption, the researchers calculated a lower-bound financial loss of 17.49 billion US dollars through lost subscriptions, rentals and legitimate purchases. Content produced in the United States, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and India accounted for some of the highest estimated losses, underscoring the global economic impact of Telegram-based video piracy.
India Today review suggests that taking a film off an official streaming platform does not necessarily remove it from the wider internet. Once content enters Telegram’s decentralised piracy ecosystem, interconnected bots, backup channels and external hosting services can keep it circulating long after its official release has disappeared.
Satluj, previously titled Punjab ’95, is inspired by the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who exposed the alleged illegal cremation of thousands of unidentified bodies during Punjab’s militancy in the 1980s and 1990s. The film has long been mired in controversy, with its removal from ZEE5 marking the latest chapter in its journey.
In an Instagram video posted on Monday, Dosanjh said he was happy that many people had already downloaded the film and that it had become “part of the conversation.” The findings suggest that his remark, although ironic, reflects a broader reality of today’s piracy ecosystem: even after disappearing from an authorised streaming platform, Satluj continues to circulate widely across Telegram’s network of channels and bots.
– Ends
