Published July 10, 2026
From Ghallughara to Punjab '95 to Satluj: Production History
How Honey Trehan’s Khalra biopic changed titles, fought certification, lost festival slots, and still reached OTT uncut.
If you only know the name Satluj, you are seeing the third public skin of the same film. Understanding the title hop explains why 2026 coverage sounds exhausted and urgent at once.
Title changes
- Ghallughara — early title referencing historical Sikh massacres; drew certification heat.
- Punjab '95 / Panjab '95 — rebrand after CBFC and stakeholder pressure; still mired in cut demands.
- Satluj — final digital release title on ZEE5, July 2026.
Production credits that stuck
Honey Trehan directed and co-wrote with Niren Bhatt and Utsav Maitra. Ronnie Screwvala (RSVP) and Abhishek Chaubey partnered with Trehan's MacGuffin Pictures. Craft team highlights: K. U. Mohanan (cinematography), A. Sreekar Prasad (edit), Marc Marder (score).
Roadblocks
Public reporting tracked a multi-year CBFC confrontation: initial cut lists, court challenges, revising-committee escalations (figures cited in press rose past 100 demanded changes), trailer friction on YouTube India, and a last-minute TIFF 2023 pullout. An uncut multi-country plan for February 2025 slipped again. Trehan said he would not put his name on a 127-cut corpse of the film.
That stubbornness is why the eventual ZEE5 drop was framed as “uncut.” For the certification war in detail, read the CBFC timeline.