Gul Panag shares, 'I am much more than an actor.'

Gul Panag’s web series Good Bad Girl is set to start streaming from October 14 on SonyLIV. The actress will be seen as Zaina Mistry, a lawyer. The show, which is set in Mumbai, is helmed by Abhishek Sengupta. It is produced by Vikas Bahl and Anurag Shrivastava. The Free Press Journal caught up with Gul for an exclusive chat. Excerpts:

Tell us about your role in Good Bad Girl?

I play Zaina Mistry, a lawyer. Maya Ahuja who is the central character, is the good/bad girl and works for my law firm. She is an ambitious and slightly difficult employee. She always uses her twisted ways to get things done and I have to always fire her. However, she comes up with some story. That’s where the show starts.

The title is intriguing. What is it all about?

I think no one is good or bad in a pure sense. We all have these qualities which are brought about in certain circumstances or maybe not. As far as this show is concerned, she is basically good at heart but her actions are considered bad by societal standards.

What is good/bad for you in reality?

For me, I don’t think everybody is pure good or pure bad. It’s all a function of opportunity and situation. Even a murderer has a good side to him/her.

How do you look at your journey?

Frankly speaking, it’s been a fulfilling one. I have always maintained that my film career has enabled me to do everything else I wanted to do. Films are a means to an end. They are not totally an end in themselves for me. I wanted to do many things in my life. The journey has been long as I never wanted to be defined as any one thing as a person. I am much more than an actor. I am grateful that I have the opportunity to do so much diverse work for the last five years. I am blessed to do such great work and get so much love. More importantly, I would say respect, which comes over the course of these years. I am very grateful for all that.

Dignity and respect are never demanded but commanded. Do you agree?

Yes, because of the way we have conducted it. I was talking to somebody who asked me what is that one thing you have taken away from Miss India? For me, I have always strived to be a role model. As I feel in any situation somebody may be watching you and get influenced. As a public figure this is one responsibility I take most seriously. Not necessarily for large things but how one can deal with situations. Maybe someone is really in need of that one moment to do something. You can show them the way. So that is one responsibility I love to take seriously. My mom would be somebody who must have lost her temper but it's not okay to lose my temper. I am very conscious of my behaviour. I am self-aware and as a public figure you owe the responsibility of conducting yourself with a certain amount of dignity and balance. That takes a little work. I suppose less people do it and these people stand out.