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The World Cup 2022 final between France and Argentina was quite a thriller. It felt like a scripted movie. But that’s not the only thriller I watched this month. The new series ‘CAT’, Netflix’s first-ever original Punjabi production, comes at par with the World Cup final in terms of thrills, frills, and surprises. Directed and co-written by Balwinder Singh Januja, Rupinder Chahal, and Jimmy Singh, all eight episodes of CAT are equally riveting with stellar acting performances and compact storytelling. Set in Punjab, India, the film highlights the region’s problems, from guns and criminal gangs to drugs and a corrupt system. Gary (Abhishant Rana), a naive Sikh teen, witnesses his parents’ murder during the 90s insurgency. Filled with vengeance, he becomes a police informant codenamed CAT and helps the police encounter the terrorists involved in murdering his parents. After the insurgency is over, Gary’s handler Sehtab Singh (Suvinder Vicky)—a cop—hands him his new identity. Gary then becomes Gurnam Singh (Randeep Hooda), a mechanic who lives frugally and has become a parent figure for his younger siblings. Gurnam is leading an ordinary life, completely away from his past, when his younger brother, Sunny (Danish Sood), is arrested for drug trafficking. This forces Gurnam to seek help from his old acquaintance, Sehtab. Sehtab, now higher in rank in the police force, agrees to help him only if he infiltrates a local drug cartel headed by powerful politician Madam Aulakh (Geeta Agrawal) and helps destroy them. Gurnam has to go undercover again, monitored by police officers Chandan (Pramod Pathak) and Babita (Hasleen Kaur) under Sehtab’s team. Then follows a flurry of adventures, deceptions, guiles, and murders while Gurnam tries to stick to his end of the deal. He then gets on the radar of some dangerous people. The premise of the series—where a retired spy is forced back into action because of his family—is nothing new to the silver screen. The writers of CAT have taken this tried-and-tested formula and incorporated many plot twists and backstories into it to make it a refreshing watch. There is a lot more happening in the storyline than just Gurnam trying to breach into Madam Aulakh’s close-knit drug circle. The series is full of different characters, each with their own backstories, conflicts, and ambitions. This gives CAT the scope to expand from different points of view as the series progresses. Even with Gurnam and Sehtab at the center, there are multiple characters with strong backstories that can lead a whole series on their own if required or if given a chance to do so. The strong writing and direction of CAT are backed by the acting performances. Hooda is brilliant in the lead role. Gurnam’s transformation from an innocent teen to a hardened undercover agent comes with its share of ups and downs. He has his strengths and vulnerabilities. The actor (who I personally feel is criminally underrated in Bollywood) portrays his role with sheer conviction and dexterity. Vicky, a popular Punjabi actor, also makes his mark in the series as Sehtab. Vicky convincingly personifies the ambitious, corrupt, and conniving police officer and has the potential of becoming a formidable enemy of many of the characters in the future. The rest of the cast, including the former Indian beauty queen Hasleen Kaur, have put up convincing performances that match up to the screenplay. In fact, Kaur has de-glamorized herself so much in playing a Punjabi cop that it feels like she is a real-life cop playing herself on screen. This is just an example of how strong the character building is in the series. Who should watch it? ‘CAT’ is a brilliant thriller with more strengths than weaknesses throughout its eight episodes. People who love crime thrillers will definitely enjoy it the most. Even if you’re not so keen on malicious, violent content, you could definitely enjoy CAT for its storytelling, acting performances, and the few peppy Punjabi songs it features. Rating: 4 stars Directors: Balwinder Singh Januja, Rupinder Chahal, Jimmy Singh Actors: Randeep Hooda, Hasleen Kaur, Suvinder Vicky Genre: Crime Thriller Run time: 7hrs (approx.)

‘The Playful World of Mushrooms’ by Ashish Ghimire and Prem Pandey is all about mushrooms, which the authors say are the ‘magical creations of nature’. The shapes, forms, colors, and several other attributes of mushrooms, explained beautifully through the text and illustrated clearly through photos in the book, would make anyone believe that they are indeed the magical creations of nature. When we say ‘fungus’, most people immediately think of mushrooms. However, mushrooms are only a form of fungi with pronounced and easily noticeable fruiting bodies. From the brewing of beer to the modern antibiotics that save our lives, all involve fungi. Fungi make our world more habitable but a lot is yet to be understood about these mysterious creatures. Studying fungi could lead to unraveling the mysterious threads of nature, hitherto hidden from us. The book takes readers on an exciting ride—through the author’s personal joyous interactions and encounters with mushrooms. The first chapter of the book is a personal account of Ghimire’s first-hand experiences with fungi and covers topics such as ecological relationships of fungi with the environment, occurrence and distribution, mushroom biology, life cycle, mushroom foraging, identification, edibility, and poisoning among several others. The chapter also sheds light on the relationship between people and mushrooms, and the different ways in which fungi can be used. The second chapter by Ghimire discusses the rich diversity of mushrooms that Nepal possesses. The third chapter by Pandey tries to make readers acquainted with the standard practices in the cultivation of several mushrooms from around the world. Also, included is a beautiful poem by Ghimire that inspires every one of us to live like mushrooms—calm, grounded, progressive, and resilient. I think the book has been able to deliver what it has tried to with the set of knowledge and experiences of the authors, made better by the expertise of the editors, renowned in the field of mycology. Simple and understandable language, short narratives and first-hand stories fitting the context of the book, and colorful pictures of mushrooms gathered by the authors from different mushroom expeditions are among a few things that make this book a unique work of art. The authors are plant pathologists with several years of experience working with fungi. Years of experience in teaching at several institutions have also probably come in handy in presenting the book in a form that could be easily understood even by readers who are not mycology students. It has been mentioned in the book that over 1,200 species of mushrooms are found in Nepal. The book, however, includes descriptions of around 120 mushrooms. The book also talks about sensitive topics such as psychedelic mushrooms, mushroom poisoning, and the prospects of mushroom foraging traditions. As the title suggests, the book aims to be a fun introduction to mushrooms. The use of diagrammatic representations indeed makes it an enjoyable book to go through. There’s definitely a lot to unpack in this book. It might not be everybody’s cup of tea but those who want a deeper understanding of nature, and in particular mushrooms, will find this to be a treasure trove.

Sometimes, out of nowhere, you stumble across some books and authors and your life is forever changed. ‘The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels’ by the fascinating author India Holton (who loves writing about uppity women and drinking copious amounts of tea) is perhaps my best book of 2022. It’s charming. It’s funny. It will make me smile every time I will think of it (which I’m sure will be quite often). The story grabs you by the lapels and doesn’t let go until the last page. How I wished the book were longer. Set in an alternate version of Victorian-era London, the Wisteria Society is made up of a group of women pirates who hunt (read steal) treasures in flying (stolen) battle houses. Cecilia Bassingthwaite is an ambitious member of the society. She is, however, desperate for a promotion. Only it keeps eluding her for one reason or another. Then her aunt, along with other society members, is kidnapped and Cecilia obviously wants to save them—she loves her aunt but she also feels saving the society will earn her that promotion. Cecilia teams up with Ned Lightbourne, the man who would have been her assassin had he not fallen in love with her. Ned has been contracted by Cecilia’s nemesis to kill her. Her father, Captain Morvath, hired him to protect her. Then, he also claims to be loyal to the crown and so he’s only following orders to keep a close eye on the lady pirates, especially Cecilia. There’s a lot of confusion about his real identity but there’s no denying that he’s charming. He could very well be the modern-day version of Jane Austen’s Mr Darcy. The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels is a laugh-riot. The side characters are quirky and add much craziness and confusion to the story. Their banter is witty and their personalities are unique. There is a lot of violence but it’s cartoon-style violence. You will be reminded of the Tom and Jerry or Popeye reruns you used to watch as a child. The twists and turns keep you guessing what will happen next, while steamy romance occasionally makes you blush. If you have enjoyed the classics, especially Bronte and Austen, there are plenty of references that will tug at your heartstrings. Holton’s writing perfectly complements the Victorian setting so much so that you feel like she’s a writer from that era. It’s a good book that will get your mind off things that have been troubling you while simultaneously reminding you of some of your favorite books. Four stars Fiction The Wisteria Society of Lady Scoundrels India Holton Published: 2021 Publisher: Penguin Random House UK Pages: 324, Paperback

Adventure movies based on treasure hunts are not really my thing. You read RL Stevenson’s 1883 classic ‘Treasure Island’ once and you will find most of the bounty hunt movies following the same pattern. Among the numerous treasure hunt movies that Hollywood has produced in the last few decades, the ‘Indiana Jones’ film series, that started in the 80s featuring Harrison Ford in the iconic titular role, has to be the most popular. The reason I’m giving so much context here is because I felt like I was watching another one of those Indiana Jones movies when watching ‘Uncharted’, the latest release on Netflix. Based on the famous video game franchise called ‘Uncharted’, the American action-adventure movie, directed by Ruben Fleischer, features Hollywood stars Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg on a treasure-finding frenzy. Nate (Tom Holland), an orphan who got separated from his brother Sam 15 years ago, works as a bartender in New York. He’s also a quick-handed pickpocket who steals from the rich people he meets. Then one day, he’s paid a visit by Victor ‘Sully’ Sullivan (Mark Wahlberg), who introduces himself as Sam’s friend. Introducing himself as a fortune hunter, Sully entices Nate to help him steal a golden cross which is the key to finding an enormous treasure. Nate declines at first but when he learns that finding his brother Sam would also be a part of the deal, he agrees to join Sully. The duo manages to steal the golden cross, but they find themselves in trouble with Santiago Moncada, the last descendant of the Moncada family who believes the cross and the treasure are rightfully his, and Jo Braddock, a ruthless mercenary. Then follows a series of adventures, deceptions, shocks, and surprises till the very end. Despite the fact that the writers and the director of Uncharted had to follow the theme of the video game in storytelling, there is a lot of redundancy in the movie. The storyline, the plot, and even the characters have nothing new about them. This lack of freshness in the creation and the unimaginative production makes this star-studded movie a lot less enjoyable than it could have potentially been. The movie had apparently entered development back in 2008 and was delayed for various reasons. Between then and the time the filming actually began in 2015, the movie’s development went through massive changes in its crew and cast. But I guess the filmmakers who actually executed the script might have forgotten to contextualize it for the present times. As a result, Uncharted feels like it was produced and released back in the 90s or early 2000s as one of the last films in a lengthy series of sequels. Actors Holland and Wahlberg have both played some iconic roles in their careers, so famous that they are sometimes recognized by the names of their characters. In Uncharted, both actors had the opportunity to play characters that had already established their names worldwide following the success of the game. But the weak script and direction didn’t let these actors own their roles and make them memorable. Even the legendary desperado Antonio Banderas doesn’t seem to fit in his character of a mighty antagonist. He is supposedly very wealthy and powerful. But his persona does not get a proper build-up and ends up not being credible enough. Nothing against any of the actors though. The uninspiring characters are the result of weak writing and storytelling that makes the movie silly. How the movie earned three times its budget at the box office still beats me. Or perhaps I’m just being a bit too critical here and the majority of the audience is still hungry for treasure hunts. Who should watch it? ‘Uncharted’ is a fast-paced action-adventure movie. Despite its failure to create excitement while watching it, it’s still not boring. People who love action films with death-defying stunts, glorious camerawork, and some CGI will definitely enjoy it in parts. If you want to watch something similar with better storytelling, check out Nicolas Cage’s ‘National Treasure’ (2004). Rating: 2.5 stars Genre: Action/adventure Run time: 1hr 56mins Actors: Tom Holland, Mark Wahlberg, Antonio Banderas Director: Ruben Fleischer