Flying Punjab) is a 2016 Indian Hindi-language black comedy crime film written and directed by Abhishek Chaubey, co-written by Sudip Sharma, and produced by Shobha Kapoor, Ekta Kapoor, Sameer Nair and Aman Gill under Balaji Motion Pictures in association with Anurag Kashyap, Vikas Bahl and Vikramaditya Motwane under Phantom Films.

However, on 13 June 2016, the Bombay High Court struck down the stay and gave permission for the film's national release, albeit with a single cut in the screenplay.

[12] It received highly positive reviews from critics, with praise for its direction, story, screenplay, music and performances of the cast.

While in prison, he meets two of his die-hard fans who remark how Tommy's lifestyle had 'inspired' theirs, leading them to murder their own mother for drug money.

She resolves to sell it but her search for a potential buyer lands her in trouble as she unwittingly contacts the original owners of the heroin.

He learns the next day that an arrest warrant has been issued for him because of the public ruckus at the concert, and sets out to find Bauria after realising his feelings for her.

Preet and Sartaj find that the driving force behind the drug problem in Punjab is an elderly man called Virender Singh, who has flourished with the support of his father-in-law, MP Maninder Brar.

The two go to extreme measures to collect evidence against the politician and put together a report to be sent to the state's Election Commission to thwart Brar's campaign for another term in power.

As Balli is Sartaj's brother, senior officer Jhujar Singh who investigates the homicide decides to send him underground.

While falsifying the crime scene he comes across the report made by her and Sartaj, and is infuriated when he sees that he too has been named in the drug racket.

[18] The soundtrack for Udta Punjab was composed by Amit Trivedi with lyrics by the late Shiv Kumar Batalvi, Shellee and Varun Grover.

The row over the film being drug-themed slated for release on 17 June escalated with co-producer Anurag Kashyap hitting out at CBFC chief Pahlaj Nihalani, calling him "oligarch" and "dictator" and that it was like living in North Korea.

The makers of the film are said to have been asked by the Revising Committee of the Censor Board to remove all references to Punjab and to make 89 cuts.

"It is a dark day for freedom of expression and creativity in the country," Mukesh Bhatt said, calling Pahlaj Nihalani a "stooge" of the government.

[25] It was later cleared by Bombay High Court with the number of cuts reduced from 89 to a single scene, wherein a character is seen urinating on a crowd of people.

[27] In August 2017, soon after his removal as CBFC Chief, Nihalani revealed in an interview that he had received instructions from the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to block the release of the film.

[31] Rajeev Masand of News18 writes "the film is hard-hitting and uncomfortable to watch, and mixes dark humor to a tale about the dirty drug and political nexus in Punjab", giving it 3.5 rating out of 5.

[34] Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times wrote "Udta Punjab works mostly because of its tone and stand against drugs, though the second half is no match for the first", giving the film 3.5 rating out of 5.

[35] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV gave the film 4 stars out of 5, writing "Udta Punjab is littered with standout scenes, but none matches the sledgehammer impact of the climax".

[36] Namrata Joshi of The Hindu described the film as "a gut-wrenching look at the frightening dystopia that is Punjab today owing to rampant drug abuse".