Writer- director Balwinder Singh Janjua says Punjab will continue to live in him and his creative process

Nonika Singh

“I don’t live in Mars that I will write stories of aliens. I can only tell tales of my soil, my land...” With these words, writer- director Balwinder Singh Janjua satiates all queries about why his series CAT talks about and connects two tumultuous periods of Punjab.

Labour of love

On the casting coup that he has managed to achieve in CAT, he does share that it was conscious and “labour of love”. Each trip of his to Punjab scouting for locations also meant audition test for Punjabi actors, “I wanted to cast 80 to 90 per cent actors from Punjab.” Casting Haryanvi Randeep Hooda for the lead part of Sikh did not give him sleepless nights. For who knows better than Balwinder how Randeep, who only spoke Punjabi from the moment he was signed up for CAT, can own his character like few others can. Besides he reveals, “Randeep bhaji is very close to Punjabi ethos. He would visit the Golden Temple, even do seva while we were shooting in Amritsar.” And yes, though they had a turban specialist on sets, Randeep sure knew how to tie a turban.

Back to the 90s

The biggest challenge of putting together CAT for showrunner Balwinder Singh Janjua was to capture the milieu of the period. “Bringing alive the Punjab of 1990s wasn’t easy as what with construction going on everywhere, much of the structures have changed.” Moreover, he had to get details of the 2005 right too, “We had to pay attention to minor things like what kind of mobile phones were in use back then.”

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I am a born director but a writer first. On a platform like Netflix you can tell your story in detail. With three more writers Rupinder Chahal, Anil Rodhan and Jimmy Singh, we became a writers’ board. Bouncing off ideas back and forth we cracked this story and were at liberty to rope in several back-stories too which are integral to establishing the arc of the character.

Hailing from Gurdaspur, the border district, which has borne the brunt of insurgency, he has seen and met several police informers like his titular character CAT. “Their stories were haunting and as a writer I felt their fascinating tale high on emotions has to be told.”

As for the catchy title of the otherwise fictional series while you and I might be speculating what it stands for, he reveals how it’s an acronym for counter against terrorism. Indeed, touching the volatile issue of terrorism in Punjab comes with an additional risk of flaring up sentiments as emotions are easily roused. But he says, “When you write, you don’t think who your story will offend. You do your job as honestly as possible.”

He is happy that CAT has not ruffled feathers, rather is being perceived as a balanced account of the dark chapter in Punjab’s cataclysmic history. On drawing a parallel between two turbulent phases of Punjab, militancy and drug menace, this proud Punjabi says, “After Partition, these two events are the most defining ones.” He adds, “Punjab is a robust state which has seen highs and lows, has suffered deprivation and devastation yet bounced back with vigour.”

You bet he has seen Udta Punjab, which too was on drug issue, but he was not a wee bit apprehensive about comparisons. Rather he counter-questions if we sense any similarity between the two. We don’t, but as we wonder aloud if he was playing politically correct by picking up year 2005 (not present day) for highlighting drug trafficking. And, he shares how this question would assume greater relevance as the second season would unfold and events would be connected. Undoubtedly, next season is on the anvil and it will take us to Canada.

Since post Covid travel comes loaded with many formalities, he can’t give a definite date to when the next season would unfurl. Interestingly, he is not bogged down by the weight of expectations second time over. Rather is feeling buoyed up as he quips, “It’s a happy weight.”

The biggest plus of success, he shares is, “It opens up many possibilities. Lot of people are keen to work with you and now I can tell my stories the way I want to.” Apart from social comedy Tera Kya Hoga Lovely, starring ‘Big Brother’ Randeep Hooda whom he rates as one of the finest actors we have, he is working on a web series set in Meerut, two films, including one in the backdrop of Partition and World War II. Writer of films like Saand Ki Aankh, Firangi and Mubarkaan, he would like to test all genres.

Not all stories that flow from his pen would necessarily be about Punjab. But this son of an Air Force officer, who spent his schooling years in Chennai, did his post-graduation in economics from Baroda and would spend each summer vacation in Gurdaspur, tells his friends based in Punjab, “I am more Punjabi than you.” No wonder Punjab would continue to live in him and his creative process. CAT has already proven how authentically and honestly. Unsurprisingly, as he looks back, there isn’t a thing he would like to change.

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