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Culture & Living
Gul Panag on Paatal Lok: “I don’t need lots of screen time to make an impact”
Panag, who has rebooted her acting career, talks about her role in Anushka Sharma's new thriller series
Actress, pilot, adventurer, entrepreneur, fitness enthusiast, mother Gul Panag is enjoying a wonderful phase in her acting career. After playing Saloni in the award-winning show The Family Man, Panag will now be seen in the new Amazon Prime original, Paatal Lok. Set in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Punjab, the thriller, produced by Anushka Sharma’s company, follows a cop investigating the assassination attempt on a high profile news anchor. As the story unfolds, he must navigate murky worlds to unearth the truth.
Created by Sudip Sharma and directed by Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy, Paatal Lok stars Jaideep Ahlawat, Neeraj Kabi, Abhishek Banerjee and Panag, among others. Panag plays the cop’s wife, Renu, a strong character with modest ambitions holding together her small family. The role is a departure from the urban characters Panag usually plays, and one of the things that attracted her to the part in the nine-episode series.
Staying safe at home with her husband, son and dogs, Panag shares details of what brought her back to acting after a hiatus of almost five years and why she wanted to play Renu in Paatal Lok.
In the past 12 months you have featured in two movies and four series.
All of this interesting work I was doing and getting my flying license, etc. seemed to have had a trickle-down effect on the movie industry, which began seeing me as a unique person. The ball got rolling when Punit Malhotra said he had written a part in Student of the Year 2 with me in mind. I thought: if someone wants me to play a fitness coach at the age of 40, then why not! My son Nihal was over three months old by then and I needed to start reclaiming other roles in my life. Around the same time Neil Nitin Mukesh approached me for Bypass Road and Raj and DK reached out to me for the part of Saloni in The Family Man. Then came Pawan & Pooja, Rangbaaz and Paatal Lok.
In Paatal Lok you play policeman Hathi Ram’s solid-as-a-rock wife Renu. What made you take on this role?
I loved the script and its subtext of the class divide, the way it explores the media world on one hand and Hathi Ram’s world on the other. The complexity of what goes on in a simple cop’s personal life was an interesting space. The departure from the roles I have played in the last two years was a big motivation. My character is nothing like me in real life. I think the reference point was a more mature Nimmi from Manorama Six Feet Under. I also really liked working with Jaideep Ahlawat (who plays Hathi Ram). He’s a very fine actor. I am a very self-assured person. I know I don’t need lots of screen time to make an impact. I also think it is more important to be part of great work, even if a supporting part, rather than a large part in inconsequential work.
Since your debut with Dhoop in 2003, which roles are you most proud of?
I consider myself to be a fairly competent actor and film is a director’s medium. If the director knows what she/he wants, then an actor should be able to deliver a good performance. I pick Nimmi as number one because of the way Navdeep Singh (director) extracted that performance in Manorama Six Feet Under. Zeenat from Dor, Saloni from The Family Man and Renu (Paatal Lok) come next.
You are quite the multi-tasker. What were the highlights of the last few years?
After shooting for Ab Tak Chappan 2 and one Punjabi film back in 2013, I realised that I was dissatisfied with quality of work coming my way. So I started figuring out what I wanted to do and how to break dependency on others. Being considered worthy of a particular project is a very subjective process. I started exploring all my interests from travel to adventure, and gradually began crafting my journey. I didn’t want to wait for work to come but was pursuing my own interests, which included fighting the election in 2014. I also set up a production company for non-fiction content around adventure and travel. As a result, brands that were looking for engagement for automobile, travel, adventure, thought engagement segments found me an interesting choice as someone who actually walks the talk. And all I had done was be myself. So we started creating content. In 2016 I got my pilot’s license and in 2018 my son, Nihal, was born.
How are you keeping yourself busy and fit in lockdown?
I am coping very well. We have not had this time as a family for a very long time and I am grateful we are rebooting and resetting together. I also put my thinking cap on and came up with two series, Cool Tech and What’s Echoing and started Insta Lives on Hobbyist World, a platform I set up to curate hobbies, educate people about hobbyists and build a community. I felt we needed to move the conversation to provide a positive takeaway, inspire people to increase productivity and provoke them to think. I am also fitter than ever. This has a lot do to with the quality of food we are easing since we are all cooking, and enjoying it. I am exercising six to seven days a week. I am stronger and leaner. At the start of lockdown I could do 35-40 push-ups but now I am up to 100. Every other day I try to climb 85-90 floors. My goal is 100 floors.
What about your passion projects, such as travel and flying?
I rely on a simulator to practise. Fortunately I have a full set up at home—with the yoke and pedals. It’s a set-up for hobby pilots which helps keep my hand-eye coordination in tune. For the first time I have been engaging with my indoor plants. I am concerned about their health. I water them and remove dead leaves, etc. I also take my dogs for a walk. I suspect international travel is off limits for now but honestly, I am not missing that part of my life. For the last few months, I have been looking at how I can enjoy the moment rather than constantly planning to get away. I need to enjoy everyday.
Paatal Lok is streaming now on Amazon Prime Video
