CAT review: Randeep Hooda shines in thrill-a-minute ride from Punjabi heartland | Web Series
A reluctant spy getting used as a pawn by folks extra {powerful} and bold than him is an idea that’s not new to cinema. CAT, the brand new Netflix present, takes this age-old formulation and but, manages to make it recent and gripping via an eight-episode arc. The present will be described as Netflix’s first Punjabi authentic (it’s virtually bilingual with the dialogue shuffling between Punjabi and Hindi). And that’s not the one factor novel concerning the collection, which makes use of Randeep’s abilities fabulously. Additionally learn: CAT trailer: Randeep Hooda turns into police informant to bust a drug nexus in Punjab. Watch
Cat, in Punjab, refers to infiltrators planted by the police in insurgent teams in the course of the top of separatist insurgency within the state, many years in the past. This present is the story of 1 such retired Cat–Gurnaam Singh (Randeep Hooda), who has left that world behind. However now, to save lots of his brother from a difficult state of affairs, he should re-enter that darkish place and be a cop’s eyes and ears contained in the prison syndicate run by the town’s omnipotent neta Madam Aulakh.
The present’s USP is how nicely it understands its setting. It screams Punjab in each body, each line, each gunshot, and each flashback. The land and its folks have been depicted fairly nicely, and the selection to maintain the dialogue largely in Punjabi grounds it additional to the land, making it extra plausible and actual to the viewers. The actors’ Punjabi diction is sort of flawless, and whereas Randeep stutters a bit, he makes up for together with his performing prowess.
CAT isn’t delicate, which is one thing now we have come to anticipate from most up-to-date Indian net collection. The artwork of understated storytelling is a dying one in Indian OTT area, and I really feel that by selecting to be too in-your-face and loud, exhibits insult the viewers’s intelligence. That’s the largest flaw in CAT, that it hammers each level as a substitute of subtly showcasing it. It makes use of stereotypes (the cokehead brother, the rebellious wealthy daughter of a politician, the bumbling sub inspector) a little bit too freely and doesn’t resort to an excessive amount of originality in storytelling, which makes it predictable.
And but, regardless of that, there are elements the place CAT retains you guessing. The net it weaves and the surprises it throws at you might be welcome certainly. However it’s all held collectively by some effective performances. Randeep is in prime kind as Gurnaam, the person who enters the present as a reluctant household man and by the tip, goes via a Walter White-like transformation right into a hardened, scheming killing machine. However the actual star of the present is veteran Punjabi actor Suvinder Vicky, who performs Gurnaam’s handler, the scheming cop who solely has his personal pursuits at coronary heart. His dynamic position offers the actor scope and he brings out a scrumptious efficiency, showcasing ambition, jealousy, and lust for energy fairly effortlessly. Former Miss India Hasleen Kaur’s transformation right into a de-glam decrease middle-class cop deserves point out. It’s daring of an actor coming from her background to go for a job like this after which takes expertise to drag it off like she does.
CAT’s novelty lies in its understanding of its setting, the earthiness of Punjab, and the lingo, after all. The present has its faults however that novelty and a stellar solid greater than makes up for it. Between Masoom and CAT, Indian OTT scene is lastly waking as much as Punjab, a land wealthy with the form of tales the online medium wants. Right here’s hoping there can be extra of those in instances to come back.
Collection: CAT
Creators: Balwinder Singh Janjua
Forged: Randeep Hooda, Suvinder Vicky, Sukhwinder Chahal, and Hasleen Kaur.
