Gul was born in Chandigarh, into a 2nd generation armed forces family. She
had the fortune of traveling all over the country due to her father’s frequent
transfers. By the end of her schooling she had changed 14 schools! Among many
Kendriya Vidyalaya’s, The Lawrence School Lovedale, she also studied in Lusaka,
Zambia at the International School. She is an alumnus of the Government College
for Girls, Patiala, where she pursued a BA in Mathematics and went on to do a
Masters in Political Science from Punjab University Chandigarh. Gul always
maintained a keen interest in sport and public speaking. She’s won many state
and national level debating competitions, including gold medals twice, at the
Annual National Inter University Debate.
Entering the Miss India Pageant was a mere extension of her multi talented
personality. It came as no surprise when she was crowned Miss India Universe in
1999, still only in her teens. Adamant about finishing her BA degree, she took
time off in her reign year to do the same. The journey since then has been
eventful and rewarding. She did a bit modeling, a few TV shows including the
critically acclaimed series Kashmeer, before graduating to film with the
superbly received Dhoop , her award winning portrayal of Zeenat in Nagesh
Kukunoor's Dor and most recently her highly acclaimed work in
Manorama Six Feet Under.
Gul is currently finishing work on Hello(directed by Atul Agnihotri, based on Chetan Bahagat’s Bestselling novel, One Night @ the Call
Centre) and Suhail Tatari’s Summer of 2007.
She will now start work on Mukta Arts's Hello Darling.
Today Gul has earned respect not only as an actor but also a as a human being
and has undoubtedly a long innings ahead of her. She has emerged as a thinking
actor; her choice of work setting her apart from her contemporaries. She is very
particular about playing diverse characters, and works hard to make them look
visually different from her earlier portrayals. Whether it was the short haired
Peehu in Dhoop, glamourous Sonia in Jurm, stark and sans any makeup Zeenat in
Dor and now coming up Nimmi in Manorama Six Feet Under or yuppie Priyanka in
Hello, she looks very different in each one of them. She is of course helped
immensely by her extremely versatile and unusual looks.
Source: www.gulpanag.net
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