By Harjeshwar Pal Singh | Movie Review |
Punjabi mainstream cinema for long has been dominated by the mind numbing, low budget slapstick comedies starring the likes of Jaswinder Bhalla, Gippy Grewal and Amy Virk where producers rent sub-urban kothis for actors to engage in verbal jousts which end up with chase scenes in and around Mohali.
Unlike Punjabi music which is truly world class, Punjabi cinema struggles even at India level. Punjabi Cinema is the Mithun Chakraborty to the Michael Jackson of Punjabi music.
It is in this void that CAT, directed by Balwinder Singh Janjua and starring Randeep Hooda, emerges. This 8-part crime thriller on Netflix engages with the last 35 years of Punjab history.
The series set in the border areas of Punjab weaves together a complex mosaic of Punjab including militancy, drugs, IELTS, family feuds, pop culture, gaudy weddings, gyms etc where unscrupulous politicians and diabolical policemen use and manipulate small farmers, and promising athletes to act as their moles and pawns. It is also a dark tale of underclass desperate youth willing to do anything for their foreign dreams.
The series is deeply political too.It questions the dominating narratives of Punjab.Its heroes are a CAT Gurnam Singh who prays at a Bhagat Sain Gurudwara and a Dalit-turned-Christian Babita Masih. Both are victims of violence and societal discrimination which forces them to embrace their current identities but without finding solace or redemption. Caste, class andgender politics all make their subtle presence. Political rapacity and Police criminality are shown in all their naked ugliness.
Among the performances Randeep Hooda stands out with his controlled rage, innocence and vulnerability. He as Gurnam Singh along with Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan in Sacred Games) has ushered in a new era of complex and sensitive Sikh characters long caricatured for their bravado or buffoonery in popular Bolywood. Abhishant Rana as a young Gurnam Singh also stands out .Suvinder Vicky (Shaitab Singh) as the sinister and unscrupulous police inspector can substitute for any Punjab Police’s hall of shame in the last 30 years.However both the lead politicians in Madame Aulakh and Jaggi Prdhan disappoints.
The series starts a bit flat but rises with each episode. Choice of actual locations including wheat fields, motors, village houses ,rice mills, gyms, derelict buildings, mohallas gives an authentic Punjabi look to the series.Some characters abruptly breaking into Hindi looks a bit odd .Resource constraints seems to be a issue in some of the scenes involving marriage, kabaddi matches or pop concerts. One should expect a more lavish budget for the next parts of the series.
Overall the success of CAT should prove to be a milestone in Punjabi OTT [over-the-top] cinema and should encourage a new wave of Punjabi writers, directors and actors to narrate the many stories of Punjab which are awaiting to be told.
Harjeshwar Pal Singh is an assistant professor at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh, where he teaches history. He is an avid political commentator.
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