I don’t want to be remembered just as a beauty queen: Gul Panag

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MUMBAI - It’s substance over numbers for Gul Panag. The actress, who will be seen in the forthcoming movie “Rann”, says she doesn’t want to be remembered just as a former beauty queen and that is why her career mantra has been to opt for fewer films.

“I have my own criteria for choosing what I want to do in the film industry. There are some people who do 20 movies in three years and are remembered for not more than one year. I, however, wish to do fewer movies but maintain a much better strike rate,” Gul told IANS.

“It has always been quality over quantity for me; so isn’t it better that I do those films which go down in the annals of film history?”

Looking forward to the way her career is shaping, Gul is quite hopeful.

“I truly trust myself to be the one with a difference. I wanted to start off differently and I was lucky enough to do that with ‘Dhoop’. I wanted to stay put on my own terms and thankfully I have been able to do that.

“Now tomorrow I want to be someone remembered for many more years to come. I am confident I will be able to achieve that as well. After all, I don’t want to be remembered as someone who was just a Miss India or a beauty queen,” she said.

Gul has been seen in eight movies so far and is remembered most for her performance in “Dor”, “Manorama Six Feet Under” and of course her debut effort “Dhoop”.

“Every role that I have done so far has been about gut instinct. It’s not just about the banner as that factor is always secondary. Of course, just like any other decision, this too may backfire sometimes. It can’t always be calculated,” said Gul in reference to her last release “Anubhav” that sank at the box office.

“The film looked good on paper and the names involved (Jackie Shroff, Sanjay Suri) were credible names as well. Also, it had a director like Rajiv Nath who had won a National Award. Unfortunately it didn’t work out.

“That’s okay, you can’t help it every time. After all there wasn’t a colossal amount of money spent in its making. Otherwise there are films that carry 100-crore budgets and still don’t find any audience.”

Over the next few months, Gul will be seen in a variety of roles. Other than “Rann”, she also has “Fatso”, “A Rectangular Love Story” and “Hello Darling” lined up. She has also signed “Crooked” which stars Abhishek Bachchan in the lead.

“The offers which are coming my way are thankfully interesting. It’s a mix of everything for me though I am fortunate that there are more performance-oriented roles that are pouring in.

“A lot of filmmakers want to rope in someone who is good on eyes and can also act. That is not a combination that is easily available out here and that’s the reason why I feel privileged.”