Gulkirat Kaur "Gul" Panag (born 3 January 1979) is an Indian actress, voice actress, model and politician. 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.

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. She debuted in Punjabi movies with Sarsa. She was the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Chandigarh for 2014 Lok Sabha Elections.

Early life Panag started her education in Sangrur, in Punjab. 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. She did her Bachelors in Mathematics from Punjabi University, Patiala, and Masters in Political Science from Panjab University, Chandigarh. 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.

Career

Modeling Panag won the Miss India title in 1999, and was crowned Miss Beautiful Smile at the same pageant. 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.

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.

Social activism

Gul Panag runs the Colonel Shamsher Singh Foundation, 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. She also participated in the India Against Corruption movement. 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.Sharma, Kalpana (27 November 2010). Unsafe for women? . The Hindu. Retrieved 2010-11-27.

Political career Panag joined the Aam Aadmi Party in March 2014. She was the Aam Aadmi Party candidate from Chandigarh for 2014 Indian general election. She came on third position with 1,08,679 votes, while Kirron Kher won the election with 1,91,362 votes. Later she distanced herself from the party's mainstream political activities and resigned from the party in June 2021.

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.

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

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

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. The couple has a son named Nihal born in 2018.

Awards 2007 - Tied - Zee Cine Critics Award for Best Actress, tied with Ayesha Takia for Dor. 2020 - Nominated – Filmfare OTT Awards for Best Supporting Actress (Drama Series) - Paatal Lok

Filmography

Films Year Film Role Language Notes 2003 Dhoop Peehu A. Verma Hindi 2005 Jurm Sonia 2006 Dor Zeenat Fatima / Zeenat A. Khan 2007 Manorama Six Feet Under Nimmi 2008 Summer 2007 Vishakha Hello Priyanka 2009 Anubhav Meera Hemant Valecha / Meera A. Malhotra Straight Renu 2010 Rann Nandita Sharma Hello Darling Mansi Joshi 2011 Turning 30 Naina Singh Phir Zindagi 2012 Fatso! Nandini 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 2021 420 IPC Pooja 2022 The Ghost Anupama Naidu Nair Telugu2023 Zwigato Herself Hindi

Television Year Title Role Notes2002 Kismey Kitnaa Hai Dam Presenter 2003 Kashmeer Zoya 2013 Khoobsurat Presenter 2017 Musafir Hoon Yaaron Presenter 2018 Vijay Jyoti Jyoti 2019The Family ManSaloniRangbaaz PhirseAnupriya2020Paatal LokRenu ChaudharyPawan & PoojaPooja Mehra2022Good Bad GirlZaina Mistry

References

External links