EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! Gul Panag: People Are Still Influenced By My Off-Screen Persona When They Offer Me Roles

'I Have Been Extremely Fortunate For The Quantum Of Good Work That Comes My Way Considering I Don't Go Out And Seek Them'

Q. You had once said that there is a certain perception about you based on the other things you do in life and that also determines the parts you get. But in the last few years, you have been offered some interesting roles in projects like Paatal Lok, The Family Man and now 420 IPC. In between all this, you even manage to squeeze in a Student Of The Year 2? Do you believe that the makers have finally realized that there's more that Gul can bring on the table?

A. I am surprised that you remember that. In fact, all the parts from 2018 onwards have been a function of the perception that people have of me as an individual and not as an actor. I still think that people are very influenced by my off screen persona and that's not a bad thing. When Puneet (Puneet Malhotra) wrote Student Of The Year 2, the part which I finally ended up doing which was like a very small teeny-weeny walk on part, was a much bigger role in the original script. He told me that when he was writing the part of the coach, he wanted a super fit person and wrote it keeping me in mind. When the script changed, he asked me whether I would still do it considering my role was reduced to now three-four scenes. I said, "Why not?" I have never considered the length of a part; I just see how much of a great time I have going to have doing it. So, I was just thrilled that someone thought that I would look good who would give the kids that I was teaching fitness a run for their money. Again, that was a function of my off screen persona; the fact that I had been running marathons and I keep posting stuff about everything that I do. Social media has really been the thing that took off the way otherwise how would people know who Gul is in real life. I am many things in real life. Some people are just one thing in real life and that is who they choose to be. I just believe that I am many things and I have also been someone who has been a multi-faceted person.

Similarly for the stuff that I do with cars and bikes and the fact that I have a flying license is probably what Raj and DK when they reached out to me for Saloni's character in The Family Man. I feel somewhere the way they see me is what I get reached out for. In fact, in Pataal Lok, they first put on the table both the parts; Dolly Mehra who was played by Swastika Mukherjee as well as Renu's part. Somehow I am glad that they thought that I was more suited to play Renu because an urban part would be an easy fit because that's who I am in real life. We just can't keep playing ourselves.

Now, I feel maybe the last string of projects starting from 2018 till now, have probably put me back in the mind space of people. That's the only thing that I can think of. I don't think it's about due or not being given due. For somebody who has considered her acting career as one of the thing she does, I have been extremely fortunate and I still remain that for the quantum and abundance of good work that comes my way considering I don't go out and seek work at all.

Q. So how did 420 IPC come your way?

A. It's an interesting story. Manish (director Manish Gupta) reached out to me and offered me the script to read. Coincidentally when I read the script, I had just finished three years of LLB. I had been pursuing it since 2018. I was given the new perspective that I gained after studying India's legal system for three years, giving multiple sets of exams and finally getting my law degree. It changed my perspective on the judicial and legal system and the various court procedures that we have. And from that perspective when I read this script, I thought that Manish had done a fabulous job in the detailing and authenticity of the script in the manner which he crafted it. Of course, that's because of the perspective that I had. If I remove that, it's still a very good and tight script with lots of suspense and thriller elements in it and also a great cast. Why would I not want to work with Ranvir Shorey and Vinay Pathak again?

So, the short answer is an opportunity to work in a very good, tight script with these two actors. A little more deeper answer would be that because I have a qualified perspective on the legal framework of the country, I was perhaps able to make a valued judgement based on it.

'Even The Most Busiest Actors In The World Have A Lot Of Time Off; This Image Of Shooting 30 Days A Month Is Just Not Real'

Q. You have always been upfront that you no longer depend on films for your bread and butter and you take up a film only if you like the script. So how do you deal with a situation when a director offers you a role and you don't like it? Does it get tough to say no to him while making sure that it doesn't rub him in the wrong way?

A. Well to be honest, most of the work that comes my way is somewhere filtered by the people themselves. I have not been in a position where I had to say that 'Listen, I don't want to do this.' Sometimes I have been upfront when the part doesn't excite me and I think it's a great story but I wish that I was playing the other part for example. People are okay with that. I mean nobody really holds that against you if the actor disagrees on what part they should play all the time. I wouldn't say turn down is the right word but they say you know that it doesn't work for them. I feel that's the most honest way of going about it, Madhuri...you just got to say that it doesn't excite you.

Q. In recent times, I have spoken to many actresses and a lot of them have said that it's different to stick to your beliefs and not give into the rat race considering everyone wants to stay relevant in the industry. How have you managed to keep yourself true to your belief system all these years?

A. It's because I have spent a significant amount of time and energy building an alternate ecosystem. I was very clear even when in my early days where there didn't seem to be signs of my belief having any validation that acting is one of the things that I want to do and not the only thing. I want to use my acting career and the platform that it gives me as a platform to pursue other things. Whatever opportunities that comes my way is the result of my platform being an actor, I take it and grab it with both hands. I have made sure that I am always building credentials whether it's studying or doing something or the other at the side always. To be fair, even the busiest actors in the world have a lot of time off. This image of shooting 30 days a month is just not real...you would know that better than anybody else. So, what do you do with your free time? How do you use it constructively? That's the way I see it. I have used my down time constructively to pursue everything that I wanted to and a lot of those things become very rewarding in multiple ways including financially; be it my love for fitness, my pursuit of adventure, my love for cars and bikes, travel and all the stuff. I pursue it because this is the stuff that gives me the platform to do it.

'Art Cannot Change The Society; It Can Perhaps Sow The Seeds Of Change'

Q. Gul in the few years, things have been changing for female artistes. You have women both in front and behind the camera. Samantha Ruth Prabhu mentioned in one of her recent interviews with Film Companion that we need more empathy than sympathy. Her point of view was that even the best of women actors are children of a lesser God in mainstream cinema. She said that you don't get a film on a warrior princess with the budget of a Baahubali. But with the OTT platform, things are slowly changing and women are getting an equal field to play...

A. That's partly true. There's another perspective there. We live in a patriarchal society and our art is going to reflect that. Art cannot change the society; it can perhaps sow the seeds of change. But you really can't put the onus on artists to present an alternate reality unless you are making a dystopian film. So as we see more and more women doing more mainstream things in society which were earlier considered as male bastians, we will normalize telling stories of women. But unless and until that happens, we will still continue to have a small percentage of women performers headlining films because those many stories are not being told. It's the same story as to why women had to fight for these many years to be able to allot a permanent commission in the armed forces. Twenty years down the road when maybe when my son is looking to enter and embark a career, it would still be an unequal place. Maybe we will see out of 540 something Member of Parliaments, maybe 200 or something would be women. But until and unless that happens, you can't expect that level of equality to be reflected in our cinema. Cinema is only across a section of our society. So, I can do stuff out of empathy but ultimately when the changes comes in society, it will be a reflection. You won't have to do it out of empathy or sympathy. You will just have to tell the stories as you see them.

Q. Lastly, do you feel this landscape can change with the advent of OTT platforms where women get a chance to play real and flawed characters and take the centre stage?

A. It would still be a fewer in number because again all cinema and content is a reflection of the existing society in which it is set. You take Bollywood out of the equation. How many female-headlined films are made in the west? That really is your answer. It's not 50-50 for sure. In a good year, it might be around a 25, 30 or 70 and you have films like Wonder Woman 1984. I think even in a good year in Hollywood, the pie chart would be like a 30:70 and they are 25-30 years ahead of us in woman emancipation. Eventually we will get there but I don't think OTT can alone do that. It has to happen in society.