Gul Panag, who was last seen in Fatso which got mixed reviews, is looking forward to her Punjabi debut.
The actor is playing a lead role in the film Sarsa directed by Jatinder Mauhar, who had made the critically acclaimed Mitti. Interestingly, Gul is also co-producing the film. “It’s about contemporary student politics in Punjab; about how colleges become the battle ground where state parties fight smaller battles of power,” she says. She identified with her character of Beant Kaur, but she says she isn’t even one half of her. “I wish I were like her in real life. She is independent with a very clear idea about right and wrong. She stands by the rules she lays down for herself, come hail, rain or storm,” reveals Gul. Why did it take so long for her to act in a film in her mother tongue? “I hadn’t found the script that could draw me until I met Jatinder,” she says.
Gul isn’t usually seen in typical commercial films. But she insists Sarsa is one. “For a film to be commercial, it doesn’t need to defy logic and reason,” she says. They are looking at a comprehensive release for the film in the next two-three months in north India. “Delhi is important for us, and if things permit, we will release it in Mumbai as well,” says Gul.
On the B-Town front, the actor is busy dubbing for Ab Tak Chhappan 2. “That should be completed within the next couple of weeks. I’m playing a crime reporter who’s writing a book on encounter cops,” she says. After Dor and Hello, her films didn’t quite make an impression. “If people don’t want to watch good films, what can I say? They prefer to spend money to watch films which they later come out of theatres and speak ill about,” she says. “People usually appreciate my films when they’re screened on TV.” Ask her about her other love — bikes — and she smiles, “My character in Sarsa rides a bike! I will hopefully be doing a Rajasthan bike trip in December.”
