Gul Panag stands out among the regular Bollywood divas with her short hair and make-up free look and the actress says she tries to pick up roles that are closer to reality and life.
The actress, who will next be seen in Prakash Jha production’s ‘Turning 30’, says she feel fortunate to get roles which are not regular love stories.
“I don’t want to look like an assembly line production. The same glossy long hair and saree makes all actresses look similar. I want to stand out. It is easy to blend than to stand out,” the actress told PTI.
“Similarly, being a niche actor, I am fortunate to get a film like ‘Turning 30’. Why don’t we make such films. There is more to life than love stories.”
Gul has been a part of critically acclaimed movies like ‘Dor’, ‘Dhoop’ and ‘Manorama Six Feet Under’.
In debutant director Alankrita Srivastav’s film, Gul plays an urban woman, who struggle to control the chaos in her life as she hits 30s. She tries to juggle a job, family, friends while searching for love. The film releases on January 14, next year. Purab Kohli is her co-star in the movie.
While Gul considers her character in ‘Turning 30’ a difficult one, she did not think that there was a risk in playing a woman in 30s.
“I think things are changing in Bollywood. People are more accepting. I don’t want to be 24. It is an age of cluelessness. You don’t know what you want from life. But being 30, I am forthright. I know my mind and know what I want from life. Why should I be hesitant about it,” she says.
“My character in the movie is very real. Someone you can identify with. She is a woman who is dreading 30 because she has not settled yet. She knows what she wants from her life but not sure how to go about it. It is a dilemma common to us all,” she adds.
Gul last outing was Shubhash Ghai’s production ‘Hello Darling’, about sexual harassment of women in offices. Long in the making the film did not do well at the box office.
The actress says she herself was surprised to see the final product onscreen.
“When the film was narrated to me it was told in a particular way. Being a niche actor when you are offered a role in a big production and without compromising your sensibility, you take it. But the problem with the film was that I had no clue about. As an actor I can control only what I do,” she says.
As far as coming year is concerned, the actress has things planned out.
“I am planning to turn producer but it is in initial stages so I won’t talk about it. We are planning to take up an interesting international project in 2012. I am working with Ram Gopal Varma again. I also have a film with Pritish Nandy,” she said.
