‘Human Beings Are Like Trees, We Keep Growing Till…’

‘Your
relationship
with
your
child
is
changing
every
single
day,
ditto
your
relationship
with
your
parents.’

What
makes
interviewing

Gul
Panag
always
interesting
is
that
she
will
never
duck
a
bouncer
or
play
a
ball
quietly
to
the
covers.

She
is
honest,
straightforward
and
fearless,
giving
her
100
per
cent
to
everything
she
does,
be
it
running
a
half-marathon,
flying
a
plane,
campaigning
for
elections,
running
an
enterprise
or
playing
a
character
who
is
the
polar
opposite
of
her.

Season
Two
of
the
Amazon
Prime
Video
series,

Paatal
Lok,
sees
her
play
Renu,
the
wife
of
Jaideep
Ahlawat’s
Inspector
Hathiram
Chaudhury.

Speaking
to



Rediff.com
Senior
Contributor

Roshmila
Bhattacharya,
the
actress
says,
“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.”

Not
just
Hathiram
Chaudhary,
even
his
wife
Renu
has
struck
a
chord
with
the
audience
in
Season
Two
of

Paatal
Lok.
What
would
you
attribute
this
growing
empathy
to?

Well,
like
an
average
homemaker,
Renu’s
life
too
has
so
far
revolved
around
her
husband,
Hathiram,
who
is
never
around,
and
her
son,
Siddharth
aka
Siddhu,
who
has
gone
off
to
college,
leaving
her
alone
and
lonely,
grappling
with
the
’empty
nest’
syndrome.

There
was
always
a
gap
between
Hathiram
and
her
which
in
Season
One
was
filled
by
the
child.

The
core
of
any
married
couple
is
how
they
raise
the
next
generation
and,
in
this
case,
since
both
Hathiram
and
Renu
were
on
opposite
ends
of
the
spectrum,
the
relationship
was
fraught
with
conflict.

But
that’s
changing
now,
right?

Yes,
they
may
still
not
be
on
the
same
page
but
now,
we
see
a
consensus
building.

There’s
a
new-found
maturity
even
in
Renu
who,
towards
the
end
of
Season
Two,
is
open
to
the
idea
of
meeting
her
son’s
girlfriend
which
signals
that
the
relationship
is
evolving.

Professionally,
Hathiram
is
still
where
he
was
in
Season
One
but
personally,
the
inspector
has
grown.

So
has
Renu.

After
years
of
the
family
being
her
priority,
she
is
finally
looking
inwards,
asking
herself,
‘But
what
about
me?
Where
do
I
go
from
here?’

I
guess
that’s
what
has
resonated
with
so
many
people
either
because
they
feel
the
same
way
as
Renu
or
because
they
are
guilty
of
making
someone
else
feel
that
way.

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.

Another
reason
why
viewers
have
warmed
up
to
the
big-built
Haryanvi
cop
and
his
no-nonsense
wife
is
because
Hathiram
and
Renu’s
romance
is
so
real,
so
relatable.

(Laughs)
Yeah,
there’s
that
meme
which
has
gone
viral
to
which
I
get
tagged
frequently.

The
one
where
Renu
calls
Hathiram
in
Nagaland
where
he
is
going
through
a
difficult
time
and
asks
him
how
he
is…

(Chuckles)
He
replies
that
now
that
he
has
heard
her
voice,
he
is
fine.
The
admission
—
while
romantic
—
is
so
rare
for
them
that
not
knowing
how
to
react,
she
asks
him
if
his
stomach
is
fine.

‘Gas

to
nahin
hai?‘

(Laughs)
Yes,
that’s
real
life
romance
for
you
that
has
grown
out
of
years
of
companionship
and
bonding.

That’s
the
beauty
of
Sudip’s
writing,
the
depth
and
incisiveness
in
it
that
has
brought
even
a
supporting
part
like
Renu
so
much
love.

Does
Renu’s
bonding
with
the
orphaned
Guddu
in
Season
Two
mirror
your
relationship
with
your
son
Nihal?

When
we
shot
Season
One
towards
the
end
of
2018,
my
son
was
around
eight
months
old
and
I
was
still
grappling
with
the
challenges
of
being
a
new
mother.

He
turns
seven
next
month
which
means
that
I
could
bring
six
years
of
motherhood
to
my
workplace
in
Season
Two.

But
I
wasn’t
trying
to
be
the
mother
Gul
is
to
Nihal
when
playing
Renu
because
that
would
have
been
dishonest
to
the
character
because
I
am
nothing
like
her.

But
my
life’s
experiences
did
add
certain
elements
to
the
performance.

Just
when
Renu
is
becoming
a
little
more
emancipated
and
empowered,
trying
to
explore
a
space
for
herself
by
using
her
education
to
tutor
little
kids,
Guddu
is
foisted
on
her
by
her
husband.

It’s
a
responsibility
she
doesn’t
welcome
initially
because
it
feels
like
an
encumbrance,
but
then
it
brings
back
memories
of
Siddhu
from
when
he
was
four
years
old.

Parenting
had
been
a
struggle
then
because
both
husband
and
wife
were
grappling
with
it,
but
now
Renu
realises
she
is
missing
that
time
with
her
son
and
wants
to
relive
it
with
Guddu.

Do
you
miss
your
son
from
when
he
was
four
years
old?

I
miss
him
even
from
six
months
ago.

He’s
always
been
very
specific
about
what
time
I
will
be
back
home
every
time
I
step
out.

If
I’m
late,
I
always
say
sorry.
Earlier,
he
would
say,
‘It’s
okay,
mamma.’

(Laughs)
But
now,
my
son
who
is
fairly
articulate
will
ask
me
if
the
apology
is
‘unequivocal’
or
‘conditional’.

Your
relationship
with
your
child
is
changing
every
single
day,
ditto
your
relationship
with
your
parents.

Human
beings
are
like
trees,
we
keep
growing
till
death
cuts
us
down.

Sudip
manages
to
capture
this
growth
through
the
layers
of
his
writing.

Since
Delhi
goes
to
the
polls
on
February
5,
let’s
talk
politics
now.
What
made
you
take
the
plunge?

The
idea
of
joining
politics
came
from
wanting
to
do
the
best
that
I
could.
But
I
realised
I
couldn’t
do
my
best
due
to
circumstances
beyond
my
control.

First,
my
child
was
barely
two-and-a-half
years
old
when
Punjab
went
to
polls
and
I
wanted
to
contribute
fully
to
his
growth.

Second,
I
did
not
have
a
limitless
source
of
revenue,
and
to
remain
honest
in
politics,
you
need
to
have
a
steady
source
of
revenue
to
fuel
your
car,
to
pay
your
mobile
bills,
your
child’s
school
fees
and
so
on. 

If
you
are
being
financed
by
somebody
with
interests,
they
will
not
just
expect
to
recover
their
investment,
but
chances
are
they
will
try
to
extract
three
to
four
times
more
from
you.
Therein
lies
the
fundamental
problem
that
leads
to
corruption.

But
you
raised
funds
publicly?

Yes,
I
fought
my
campaign
with
what
was
allocated
by
the
Election
Commission
of
India.

How
do
politicians
fund
themselves?

The
way
to
encourage
honest
politicians
is
to
allow them
to
pursue
their
core
profession
along
with
politics
till
they
are
elected,
the
way
they
do
in
the
West.

They,
of
course,
choose
to
take
a
pay
cut
once
they
are
elected.

Should
actors
continue
to
act
once
elected?

If
lawyers like
Kapil
Sibal,
P
Chidambaram
and
Arun
Jaitley
could
continue
to
practise
even
after
they
are
elected,
why
shouldn’t
actors?

Kangana
(Ranaut)
continues
to
act,
direct
and
produce
films
even
after
becoming
an
MP.

But
it’s
different
when
you
become
a
minister
like
Smriti
Irani
was
or
like
Kapil
Sibal
was
or
like
Dr
Mahesh
Sharma
was
because
that’s
a
fulltime
job.

You
are
no
longer
with
the
Aam
Aadmi
Party,
right?

Yes.
Even
though
I
led
the
Aam
Aadmi
Party’s
campaign
in
Chandigarh
during
the
2014
elections,
I
have
not
been
with
the
party
since
2021.

I
did
not
announce
it
at
a
press
conference
or
make
a
big
noise
about
it
because
I
did
not
want
to
exercise
any
leverage
from
my
resignation.

Since
I
was
not
able
to
do
my
best
in
the
circumstances,
I
felt
I
must
recalibrate
and
do
something
else.

Any
possibility
of
getting
back
into
active
politics
in
the
future?

Yes.
I
remain
committed
to
my
goal
of
serving
in
public
life
but
I’m
flexible
in
my
approach.

I’ll
wait
till
circumstances
support
me
and
enable
me
to
do
the
best
I
can
without
being
dishonest
to
myself
or
to
others.