CAT

A reluctant spy being used as a pawn by people more powerful and ambitious than him is a concept that is not new to cinema. CAT, the new Netflix show, takes this age-old formula and yet, manages to make it fresh and gripping through an eight-episode arc. The show can be described as Netflix’s first Punjabi original (it is almost bilingual with the dialogue shuffling between Punjabi and Hindi). And that is not the only thing novel about the series, which uses Randeep’s talents fabulously.CAT Season 1 Download.

Cat, in Punjab, refers to infiltrators planted by the police in rebel groups during the height of separatist insurgency in the state, decades ago. This show is the story of one such retired Cat–Gurnaam Singh (Randeep Hooda), who has left that world behind. But now, to save his brother from a tricky situation, he must re-enter that dark place and be a cop’s eyes and ears inside the criminal syndicate run by the city’s all-powerful neta Madam Aulakh.

The show’s USP is how well it understands its setting. It screams Punjab in every frame, every line, every gunshot, and every flashback. The land and its people have been depicted quite well, and the choice to keep the dialogue largely in Punjabi grounds it further to the land, making it more believable and real to the audience. The actors’ Punjabi diction is nearly flawless, and while Randeep stutters a bit, he makes up for with his acting prowess.CAT is not subtle, which is something we have come to expect from most recent Indian web series. The art of understated storytelling is a dying one in Indian OTT space, and I feel that by choosing to be too in-your-face and loud, shows insult the audience’s intelligence.