Honey Trehan reveals gurudwaras are placing gullaks to help recover Satluj losses

The response, Trehan revealed, went beyond individual offers of help. “We even got to know there are gullaks kept in Gurudwaras where well-wishers are trying to help my producers to recover the losses of ‘Satluj: This is happening in India as well as abroad. We thank you deeply for this gesture,” he said. However, Trehan made it clear that the team does not want to accept such contributions. “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.”

For Honey Trehan and his producers at RSVP, the film’s journey now appears to be less about its financial outcome and more about the legacy they believe it has left behind. He described Satluj as an attempt to honour Jaswant Singh Khalra’s life and to preserve the memory of those whose stories were lost in a period of violence and silence. Trehan urged audiences to look at the film as an act of service, to truth, human rights and Khalra’s memory. “It is a small attempt at sharing the collective grief of our loved ones and for the ones who we lost in the darkness irrespective of their caste, religion or social status,” he wrote.

He also issued a clarification for anyone attempting to collect money in the film’s name, stressing that such efforts have no connection with the makers. “We feel blessed to be a part of this service. We as a team respectfully want to make sure and put it on record that any money collected by anyone in the name of the film or in the name of any service or donation has nothing to do with team Satluj.”

Ending on a note of solidarity, Trehan wrote: “Let’s help each other with kindness and courage and love so we all can come together to ‘challenge the darkness ‘ when it matters.”

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Also Read | In Diljit Dosanjh’s Satluj, the state writes the obituary but the river remembers the truth

Why was Satluj taken down?

Less than 48 hours after the film’s release, ZEE5 removed Satluj from its platform and issued a brief statement. “In light of the current developments, Satluj will be unavailable in India until further notice. We remain committed to exploring every appropriate avenue through due process to bring the film back to our audiences at the earliest opportunity.” Following the take down, pirated versions of the film quickly surfaced online.

After the film’s removal, SCREEN reached out to co-producer Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP Movies. An official spokesperson confirmed, “The government has pulled it down,” while expressing hope that the film would return to streaming “hopefully soon.”

According to PTI, a government official said the makers had originally submitted the film to the CBFC in 2022 under the title Punjab 95 but did not agree to the board’s proposed 127 cuts. The official said the makers later released the film directly on OTT under a new title without obtaining CBFC certification.

“They kept sitting on the suggested cuts and eventually released the movie quietly on OTT with a new title. OTT does not come under the CBFC’s jurisdiction. When the matter came to the government’s notice, Zee was asked to take it (the film) down. The direction was given due to security concerns. The OTT platform was asked to follow the obligations under intermediary guidelines. If they want to release the film in theatres and OTT, they should follow the laid down norms.”

Honey Trehan: ‘I genuinely don’t know who had a problem’

Before ZEE5 pulled the film from its platform, director Honey Trehan had thanked both the platform and producers for standing by the project while admitting that he still did not know who had opposed the film all these years. “If somebody asks me who had a problem with the film, I genuinely don’t know. I don’t have a face. I don’t have a name. Everything came through third persons or lawyers,” he told Mid-Day.

About Satluj

Satluj revisits one of Punjab’s darkest periods, exploring the disappearances, alleged extrajudicial killings and illegal detentions linked to the state’s counter-insurgency operations against Khalistani militancy during the 1980s and 1990s. The film follows the life and work of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, whose investigations exposed the alleged illegal cremation of unidentified bodies before his own disappearance. Alongside Diljit Dosanjh, the film also stars Arjun Rampal, Suvinder Vicky and Geetika Vidya Ohlyan.