Everything’s as fair or unfair as you want to see it: Gul

Ran actor remains the same. So the medium doesn’t matter to me, and neither does it matter how big or small my role is. What matters is if the story is incomplete without my character,” she explains. Pointing out one difference between the mediums, Panag says the web lets people think outside the box. “In defiance to commercial cinema, script is the star here and it caters to everyone’s interest. On OTT, sophisticated tools curate content according to people’s likings… the actors, directors, writers, who weren’t getting scope earlier, now have enough work,” she says. In terms of the content, however, Panag believes all-round change can only happen if the audience changes. “I don’t think the audiences actually held the hand of interesting choices in terms of cinema. Going to a movie is a family outing. And films that make the biggest box office collections are family entertainers… So we need the audience to open up, too,” she ends. one might get an extra opportunity for the access they have but “that’s not the be all and end all”. She continues, “Nothing helps if you don’t have talent. They’re some who might be getting it easy, but will they be able to take the legacy forward? Not unless they’re capable. This is same in every profession. So everywhere it’s as fair as you want to see it and as unfair as you want to see it,” says the actor, whose performances in web projects Pawan & Pooja and Paatal Lok garnered much praise in 2020. This year, too, she has a strong line-up of web projects and films. Enjoying the ride, Panag says she doesn’t put one above the other. “Both [digital and theatre] are director’s medium, and my job as remembered. Yes, people associated with film families have better access. But, if someone wants to follow their parent’s profession, it doesn’t mean others who’re talented and looking to make it in the same field can’t do it. It’s so exhausting to hear people constantly complain even after having made it,” she tells us. Panag, 44, goes on to add that eacting to conversations around unfairness in Bollywood, Gul Panag draws attention to how “people from nowhere have made a career for themselves” here. “The fact that opportunity exists and lets you become who you are should also be Shreya Mukherjee

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