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'I can’t drag glamour into every character'

Ritujaay Ghosh
Kolkata, September 19, 2007

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First Published: 11:05 IST(19/9/2007)
Last Updated: 17:01 IST(19/9/2007)

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Role matters: Gul Panag will next be seen in the film Manorama Six Feet under.

Winning a beauty pageant often becomes a ticket to Bollywood. It was no different for actor Gul Panag. But unlike her predecessors she never eyed a glamourous debut and till date the beauty from Delhi enjoys playing characters of substance.

If her deglam look in Nagesh Kukunoor’s Dor

last year earned her critical acclaim, her forthcoming release Navdeep Singh’s Manorama Six Feet Under once again proves her fetish for non-glitzy roles. She plays Abhay Deol’s wife in the film and portrays an extrovert and extremely independent person.

“It is a volatile character. The series of incidents are very unpredictable and that is what makes Manorama… different,” says Gul.
She will be seen playing a similar role opposite Sanjay Suri in Anubhav.

“I want to stay in this industry for at least 15-20 years and for that I can’t drag glamour into every character I play. I can look glamourous at film premieres and photo shoots. Then why films?” she asks.

The actor, though, feels how you look on screen depends completely on the script. In the year-end release Hello, where she plays a call-centre executive, Gul will be seen in a new look.

<b1>“There had to be a fashionable quotient in this character because the script demanded it. But I chose to do the film because the role appealed to me and not because I would look glamourous,” she says.

Gul these days is also busy shooting for Summer of 2007 opposite Sikander Kher. In Manorama…Gul has competition from actor Raima Sen but she hopes to leave a mark with her performance.

“It’s a dark thriller and it also looks at the critical situation of a particular town. Every actor has a meaty role and that’s because we had a very talented director,” says Gul.

Abhay is a long-time friend and she is excited to act with him. “I was very comfortable opposite him,” she says.