Diljit Dosanjh charged Re 1 to play Jaswant Singh Khalra in Satluj, Honey Trehan recalls actor saying, “How can I charge to play someone like Khalra?”

July 16, 2026 - 1:11 PM IST

Long before a single frame of Satluj was shot, director Honey Trehan had already made up his mind that only Diljit Dosanjh could step into the shoes of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra.

Diljit Dosanjh charged Re 1 to play Jaswant Singh Khalra in Satluj, Honey Trehan recalls actor saying, “How can I charge to play someone like Khalra?”

A role money could not buy

Speaking to ThePrint, Trehan revealed that Dosanjh eventually agreed to play Khalra for a token fee of Re 1. “Had Diljit not been there, this film would not have existed,” Trehan said, calling the actor someone with “a clear conscience.”

Trehan explained that casting a mainstream Bollywood name was never an option for him, since authenticity mattered more than star power. “I wanted an actor who knows that world. I was keen on casting a Sardar because if I put a Bollywood actor in the film, the narrative would suddenly become, ‘This actor is playing a Sardar.’ That would’ve been an injustice to Khalra Sahab’s journey and the people whose pain this story carries,” he said.

The Amritsar airport meeting

Dosanjh’s face kept coming to Trehan’s mind whenever he thought of Khalra, prompting him to call the actor in January 2021. At the time, Dosanjh was passing through Amritsar airport on his way to Mumbai before catching a flight to the US, yet he agreed to meet Trehan for what was meant to be just thirty minutes.

During the conversation, Dosanjh, unaware that Trehan had already written a script on the subject, spoke at length about his admiration for Khalra. When Trehan finally handed him the research documents, with Khalra’s photograph and the letters “JSK” printed across the cover, the actor was visibly moved. “He stood up from his chair, touched the script to his forehead and said, ‘Waheguru’,” Trehan recalled.

A decade long association

When Trehan later broached the subject of a fee, Dosanjh reportedly said, “How can I charge to play someone like Khalra? It will be shameful.” Once Trehan insisted that the contract needed to state some remuneration, Dosanjh responded, “If you want to pay me for your contract, give me Re 1.”

The duo has worked together for nearly ten years, with Trehan having cast Dosanjh in his Bollywood debut, Udta Punjab. “I always gain something from every conversation I have with him. His soul is pure. You don’t find people like him easily,” Trehan said.

Satluj, previously titled Punjab ’95, traces Khalra’s fight for justice for more than 25,000 people who disappeared during Punjab’s insurgency era crackdowns. The film was released on ZEE5 on July 3 but was pulled from the platform within two days.

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