We cannot accept any money: Honey Trehan on Gurudwara gullaks for Satluj

Filmmaker Honey Trehan said gullaks (traditional piggy banks) were kept in Gurudwaras in India and abroad by people trying to help recover the financial losses suffered by Satluj. In a long Instagram note posted on Friday, the 47-year-old thanked well-wishers for the gesture but said the team could not accept any money, gifts or donations.Trehan said the response came after Satluj, his film on human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, was released on ZEE5 on July 3 and taken down by July 5. The Diljit Dosanjh-starrer was later removed globally from the platform.In his note, Trehan said he had been receiving messages, calls, Instagram DMs and tweets from people trying to reach out to him, the Khalra family and ‘Diljit bhaji’ to extend support and help recover the losses. He said people had also told him that gullaks had been placed in Gurudwaras for his producers."This is happening in India as well as abroad. We thank you deeply for this gesture," he wrote. The director added, "It is truly special, and we respect your emotions. Having said that, your love and support is more than enough, and with all due respect, we cannot accept any money, gifts or donations for our film." Trehan said he and RSVP had accepted that Satluj would have a legacy despite the financial losses. He asked viewers to consider the film as their service to the truth, to human rights and to Khalra’s memory. Calling it ‘a small attempt’, he said it was meant to share the collective grief of loved ones and remember those ‘we lost in the darkness irrespective of their caste, religion or social status’.At the end of the note, he said the team felt blessed to be part of that service and wanted to put it on record that any money collected by anyone in the name of the film had nothing to do with team Satluj. He ended by asking people to help each other with kindness, courage and love so that they could come together to ‘challenge the darkness’ when it matters. The film’s release and removalSatluj had a long journey before it briefly arrived on ZEE5. The film was previously titled Punjab ’95. It was not cleared by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) after the makers did not comply with the cuts sought, and it missed a theatrical release.The makers had earlier said that the CBFC had sought 127 cuts. The film had also been scheduled to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2023, but that screening was cancelled after objections were reportedly raised by Indian authorities.The film was released on ZEE5 without promotions on July 3, but was taken down within 48 hours. It was later removed from the platform’s international library. Its IMDb user rating was also taken down.A public interest litigation has since been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking the film’s restoration on ZEE5 and disclosure of the reasons for its takedown. The petition says the film was removed without any publicly disclosed statutory, judicial or governmental order.Dosanjh’s backing for SatlujIn an earlier interview with The Print, Trehan said Dosanjh was the first actor he thought of for Khalra’s role and that the film would not have existed without him. He said he met the actor in 2021 for 30 minutes and shared his research documents with him.According to Trehan, Dosanjh was stunned after seeing Khalra’s photograph, stood up, touched the script to his forehead and said, ‘Waheguru’. Trehan recalled him saying, "How can I charge to play someone like Khalra? It will be shameful." When Trehan insisted on paying him for contractual reasons, Dosanjh said he could be paid Re 1.Trehan also said he wanted an actor who knew that world and was keen to cast a Sardar because, in his words, bringing in a Bollywood actor would have shifted attention away from Khalra’s journey and the pain carried by the story. Dosanjh had later said on Instagram Live that he knew the film would be pulled down and urged viewers to show it to others who had not seen it yet. He also said he would be with Punjab till the day he dies.Satluj stars Dosanjh along with Kanwaljeet Singh, Arjun Rampal, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan.- EndsPublished By: Priyanka SharmaPublished On: Aug 7, 2026 21:40 IST