‘CAT’: 5 Things You Didn’t Know About Randeep Hooda-Hasleen Kaur’s Netflix Show

Ever since Netflix’s crime thriller series ‘CAT’, starring Randeep Hooda and Hasleen Kaur, hit the streaming platform, it has garnered immense attention from critics and audiences alike. From the performances to the cinematography, direction, costumes, storytelling and more, everything about the series has been applauded. But behind a show’s success, there are a lot of incidents, moments and memories that help the cast and crew come together and deliver a blockbuster!

And, according to the cast and crew of this series too, the whole process of making the series was a journey replete with many tidbits that propelled ‘CAT’ into the success that it has become today.

Here are 5 things you didn’t know!

Randeep Hooda only spoke in Punjabi on-set during and post-filming, to ensure he gets into the skin of the character

Actors are known to immerse themselves in their cast but Randeep Hooda took it to a whole new level. A little birdie told us that Randeep Hooda would ensure that he spoke in Punjabi while filming and even once he was done. He ensured that he interacted with his co-stars as well as locals to pick up on the right accent, find his own way to accentuate it and speak fluently. In fact, even when people around him interacted with him in English or Hindi, the actor never once broke character and continued to respond only in Punjabi. If that’s not dedication, we don’t know what is!

Hasleen Kaur came on set in her cop costume and lip gloss but Randeep Hooda insisted she takes it off

Hasleen Kaur has been immensely commended for her role as a fierce cop called Babita on the series. To say that she nailed the character is an understatement. But every story has its own starting point. Hasleen Kaur’s started out with a suggestion from Randeep Hooda. Seemingly, the first time they shot together, Hasleen Kaur came on to the set in her complete get-up - a policeperson’s costume with trousers, shirt, cap et al. But what wasn’t part of the costume but came with Hasleen Kaur was her lip gloss. Upon seeing that, Randeep Hooda asked her to take it off, schooling her on how real cops do not have the time for make-up and that their characters should look as authentic as they can.

The cast and crew shot the series in over 80+ locations around Punjab

To make the series as authentic as possible and portray Punjab in the most real way, creator-director Balwinder Singh Janjua actually took the cast and crew travelling across and into the hinterlands of Punjab. Not a single scene of the series was shot on a made-up set. In fact, as the storyline progresses, the filmmaker ensured that every location looked genuine. In doing this, they shot in over 80+ locations across Punjab.

Hasleen Kaur was confused for a real cop

It’s difficult to imagine the stunning Miss India-Earth, Hasleen Kaur, to be anything less than glitzy, glam and drop-dead gorgeous. But beautiful as she is, the actor was required to completely glam down for her role as a cop in the series. And, of course, she nailed it because she was simply unrecognisable in her costume and her demeanour. She owned the character so well, she not only started acting like a cop but people around her actually believed she was one.

Randeep Hooda could feel his character Gurnaam’s pain and heartbreak because he substituted Gurnaam and his brother with himself and his younger sibling

Every actor has a process, using which they can better relate to a character and slip in and out to portray them. Randeep Hooda had a process too and that was imagining himself and his brother in place of reel characters, Gurnaam and his younger sibling.

For the unversed, the plot of ‘CAT’ follows the journey of a police informant, also known as CAT, Gurnaam Singh as he gets plunged into the underbelly of crime, and corruption while trying to save his brother’s life. ‘CAT’ is currently streaming on Netflix.