Gul Panag is one of the actors who stepped into the south film industry this year. She made her Telugu debut in The Ghost headed by megastar Nagarjuna. Cementing her career into films like Manorama Six Feet Under and Dor to web series Paatal Lok and Rangbaaz. The 43 years old actress spoke on the never-ending debate between Bollywood and South Films.
Few south films making massive business at the box office triggered a debate between the North vs South industry. The subject of south movies overpowering Bollywood came to light again with the booming success of pan-India movies RRR, KGF 2, and Pushpa. Gul Panag has joined many actors from both industries who have shared their thoughts on the highly discussed Bollywood vs South debate.
In an interview with Hindustan Times she said, “I don’t know if taking over is the right word here, but I feel when a story is set in a particular part of a country or world, it should be in that language because it also has a subculture of that place. We try to set films in Hindi regardless of the place, whether it is set in Punjab or Rajasthan. It should be subtitled. I think once films like these are dubbed, it becomes cool.”
Panag further added, “Look at Parasite, it became the first non-English film to become the Best Picture at the Oscars. The best picture is the best picture that the jury has found, what does language have to do with it? Films should be made in the language which is most natural to where the story is set. Why wasn’t Veer Zaara made in Punjabi if I ask? Punjabi is easily understood by most people. But, it’s in Hindi. At least the portion could have been in Punjabi where they (Shah Rukh Khan and Preity Zinta) were in the village. Of course, when Shah Rukh is in a work environment, I can imagine why he is speaking Hindi.”
“Language is a secondary part of filmmaking. The primary part is to be authentic to the story. If a film is set in Hyderabad then the most normal thing would be for the film to be in Telugu. But, why not have more audience to watch it, so it gets dubbed in Hindi or English. I understand.”
Gul Panag is doing great in the OTT world. She appeared in Zee5 originals web series Rangbaaz Phirse and featured in two Amazon Originals web series namely The Family Man and Paatal Lok. Next, she will play Zaina Mistry in SonyLiv’s Good Bad Girl. Panag also explored regional cinema working on a south film The Ghost with Nagarjuna. The Ghost was released in theaters on 5th October 2022.
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