Gul Panag (born Gulkirat Kaur Panag, 3 January 1979; Chandigarh, India) is an Indian actress, voice actress, and model. She was crowned Femina Miss India Universe 1999 and represented India at Miss Universe 1999. She began her career in Hindi films with the 2003 film Dhoop directed by Nagesh Kukunoor and since then, she has starred in several films like Jurm along with the TV series Kashmeer.[3]

Gul Panag
Panag in 2017
Born (1979-01-03) 3 January 1979 (age 45)[1]
Other namesGul Panag-Attari, Gulkirat Kaur Panag
Occupation(s)Actress, voice actress, model
Years active2003–present
Height5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)
Political partyAam Aadmi Party
Spouse
Rishi Attari
(m. 2011)
Children1
ParentH. S. Panag (father)
Websitewww.gulpanag.net

Her films include Dor, Dhoop, Manorama Six Feet Under, Hello, Straight, and Ab Tak Chhappan 2.

She played a commoner, fighting hard to save her husband from going to the gallows, in the 2006 Nagesh Kukunoor film, Dor. In 2008, she acted in the films Hello and Summer 2007. In 2009, she appeared in the movie Straight. She featured in Rann in a role attempting to stop her boyfriend from doing the right thing. Panag appeared on the front page of Maxim with whom she did a photo shoot in September 2008.[4][5] She debuted in Punjabi movies with Sarsa.[6] She was the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Chandigarh for 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.[7]

Early life

Panag started her education in Sangrur, in Punjab.[8] Her father, Lt. Gen. Panag was in the army and the family moved to different places across India and abroad. As a result of this, she studied in 14 different schools including Kendriya Vidyalayas (Chandigarh, Mhow, Leh and Wellington, Tamil Nadu), The Lawrence School, Lovedale and the International School of Lusaka, Zambia.[8] She did her Bachelors in Mathematics from Punjabi University, Patiala, and Masters in Political Science from Panjab University, Chandigarh.[8] As a student, Panag was interested in sports and public speaking. She won numerous state and national level debate competitions, including two gold medals at the Annual National Inter University Debate competition.[1][9]

Career

 
Gul Panag in Lakme Fashion Week, 2009

Modeling

Panag won the Miss India title in 1999, and was crowned Miss Beautiful Smile at the same pageant.[10][11] She participated in the Miss Universe 1999 pageant.

Brand endorsement

She has appeared in numerous advertisements on television and print media and is the brand ambassador for Tata Sky, along with Aamir Khan.[citation needed]

Panag was the Twitter Face for the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week held in 2009, to cover the happenings/proceedings on the micro-blogging site.[12]

Social activism

Gul Panag runs the Colonel Shamsher Singh Foundation,[13] an NGO that works towards a variety of causes including gender equality, education and disaster management. She served on the advisory board of the Wockhardt Foundation.[14] She also participated in the India Against Corruption movement.[15] She ran at the Delhi Half Marathon in November 2010, but endured eve teasing (sexual harassment) from male runners at the event. She later remarked that the attitude of men in Delhi needed to change and that the city was unsafe for women.[16]

Political career

She was the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Chandigarh for 2014 Indian general election.[7] She came on third position with 1,08,679 votes, while Kirron Kher won the election with 1,91,362 votes.[17]

Other interests

She is a half-marathon runner, a biker, and a certified pilot. She debuted on the racing track at the Mahindra Racing's all new M4Electro at the circuit de Calafat in Catalonia, Spain.[18][19]

A health activist and fitness advocate Gul Panag, co-founded health and fitness startup MobieFit in 2017.[20]

Gul Panag is also a director at Tittar Lodge Productions Private Limited, which provides digital, tailor-made TV content, film and documentary content.[21]

Personal life

Panag married her long-time boyfriend, an airline pilot, Rishi Attari on 13 March 2011 in a Gurdwara in Chandigarh in a traditional Punjabi Sikh ceremony.[22][23] The couple has a son named Nihal born in 2018.[24]

Awards

Filmography

 
Gul at an event in 2012

Films

Year Film Role Language Notes
2003 Dhoop Peehu A. Verma Hindi Debut
2005 Jurm Sonia Hindi
2006 Dor Zeenat Fatima/Zeenat A. Khan Hindi
2007 Manorama Six Feet Under Nimmi Hindi
2008 Summer 2007 Vishakha Hindi
Hello Priyanka Hindi
2009 Anubhav Meera Hemant Valecha / Meera A. Malhotra Hindi
Straight Renu Hindi
2010 Rann Nandita Sharma Hindi
Hello Darling Mansi Joshi Hindi
2011 Turning 30 Naina Singh Hindi
Phir Zindagi Hindi
2012 Fatso! Nandini Hindi
2013 Sikander Beant Kaur Punjabi
2015 Ab Tak Chhappan 2 Shalu Hindi
2016 Ambarsariya Boss Punjabi
2019 Student of the Year 2 Coach Kuljeet Hindi
Bypass Road Romila Hindi
2021 420 IPC Pooja[25] Hindi
2022 The Ghost Anupama Naidu Nair Telugu Debut in Telugu cinema
2023 Zwigato Hindi

Television

Year Title Role Channels Notes
2002 Kismey Kitnaa Hai Dam Presenter Star Plus
2003 Kashmeer Zoya Star Plus
2013 Khoobsurat Presenter Zee TV
2017 Musafir Hoon Yaaron Presenter Star Plus
2018 Vijay Jyoti Jyoti Zee TV

Web series

Year Title Role Platform Notes
2019 The Family Man Saloni Amazon Web series[26]
Rangbaaz Phirse Anupriya ZEE5 Original
2020 Paatal Lok Renu Chaudhary Amazon Web series
Pawan and Pooja Pooja Mehra MX Player
2022 Good Bad Girl Zaina Mistry SonyLIV

References

  1. ^ a b "About Gul". Gul Panag – Official website. Archived from the original on 4 July 2010. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  2. ^ Dhawan, Himanshi (12 March 2014). "AAP ups the glamour quotient with Gul Panag". The Times of India. TNN. Archived from the original on 22 September 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2016.
  3. ^ "'Kashmeer' - Guns and Roses". Indiantelevision. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  4. ^ "Gul Panag's sexy makeover!". Rediff. Archived from the original on 10 July 2018. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
  5. ^ "Gul Panag amazing Maxim photoshoot". Maxim India. September 2008. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2008.
  6. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 9 October 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. ^ a b PANDHER, SARABJIT (14 March 2014). "Gul Panag declared AAP candidate from Chandigarh". The HINDU. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
  8. ^ a b c "Gul Panag Biography". Yahoo! Movies. Archived from the original on 14 May 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  9. ^ Ronjita Kulkarni. "Why Gul Panag doesn't want to be a star overnight". Rediff. Archived from the original on 22 June 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  10. ^ "50 Years of Miss India: Miss Indias who made it to Bollywood". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  11. ^ "#ThrowbackThursday: When Gul Panag won Miss India 1999 - BeautyPageants". Femina Miss India. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  12. ^ "Gul: Twitter face for WIFW". The Times of India. 22 October 2009. Archived from the original on 25 October 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2010.
  13. ^ "Interview With Gul Panag | Meet The Original Livewire". Women's Web: For Women Who Do. 18 May 2015. Archived from the original on 29 May 2017. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  14. ^ "Gul on advisory board of Wockhardt Foundation". The Indian Express. 10 May 2010. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  15. ^ "Actress Gul Panag joins AAP, to contest polls from Chandigarh". Firstpost. 3 March 2014. Archived from the original on 14 March 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  16. ^ Sharma, Kalpana (27 November 2010). Unsafe for women? Archived 29 November 2010 at the Wayback Machine. The Hindu. Retrieved 2010-11-27.
  17. ^ "Election results: BJP's Kirron Kher wins from Chandigarh, Naveen Jindal finishes third". The Times of India. 16 May 2014. Archived from the original on 16 May 2014. Retrieved 16 May 2014.
  18. ^ "After becoming a pilot, Gul Panag is now India's first woman to race in Formula E". Deccan Chronicle. 29 April 2017. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  19. ^ Dar, Vaishali. "Gul Panag s MobieFit to Roll Out New Fitness Apps in the Next Quarter". BW Disrupt. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  20. ^ "Gul Panag-cofounded health and fitness startup MobieFit raises $1.35 mn". VCCircle. 28 November 2017. Archived from the original on 14 March 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  21. ^ "Gul Panag turns producer". tittarlodgeproductions.com. 21 March 2017. Archived from the original on 12 February 2020. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  22. ^ "Gul Panag opts for Band, Baaja, Bullet". The Indian Express. 14 March 2011. Archived from the original on 12 October 2020. Retrieved 14 March 2011.
  23. ^ Mid-Day.com (11 March 2011). "Gul Panag To Marry Her Boyfriend". NDTV Movies. Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 12 March 2011.
  24. ^ "Gul Panag's adorable picture with son Nihal and husband Rishi Attari is unmissable - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 4 August 2018. Retrieved 20 September 2018.
  25. ^ Kotwani, Hiren (17 December 2021). "420 IPC Review: 420 IPC makes an engaging watch". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  26. ^ "New mommy Gul Panag makes acting comeback with Manoj Bajpayee's The Family Man". India Today. 18 September 2019. Archived from the original on 22 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Femina Miss India
1999
Succeeded by