'I Have To Excel In Everything I Do'

'Prioritisation allows you to put one thing over the other and compartmentalisation to focus on one priority at a time.' 'My two life mantras are prioritisation and compartmentalisation.'

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“In our patriarchal society, there is a Renu in every middle-class household but we don’t realise this till she holds up the mirror,” Gul Panag says of her character in Paatal Lok 2. It’s a character she knows well, since she’s done a version of it before. Gul tells “Sudip (Paatal Lok showrunner Sudip Sharma), who has worked with Navdeep (Singh, Writer-Director, Manorama Six Feet Under, which Gul acted in), has admitted that Nimmi’s character was the inspiration for Renu. Renu is an older Nimmi and since she was played by an older Gul, I was more collaborative in Paatal Lok.”

Besides being an actress and producer, you are also a licensed pilot, a half-marathon runner, a biker, a racing car driver, a fitness advocate, a public/motivational speaker, a social and health activist and an entrepreneur.

Where do you find the time, energy and motivation to do all the things you do and more?

I’m a polymath. It’s a term that defines someone who is highly competent and knowledgeable across several disciplines, which is different from being a Jack of all trades. Actually, many of us are polymaths because human beings by default are good at multiple things, but societal conditioning and division of labour holds us back. If we don’t explore other dimensions, it’s simply because we are conditioned by society to stick to one.

But you didn't...

No, I realised very early that I could be good at many things and that I wanted to explore all the different dimensions of my personality. That’s what prompted me to get a pilot's licence and run an enterprise while being an actress liked for some performances.