Hot Bollywood actress Gul Panag is a big fan of the Czech car manufacturer Skoda and was thrilled to find the new Skoda Yeti being launched at the Auto Expo 2010 event. “Gul Panag was invited as a chief guest at Auto Expo 2010,” said a source, “Gul seemed to be very excited to have the Skoda Yeti launched in India and also took a picture with it.” Gul is passionate about bikes and cars and owns a Royal Enfield motor bike, a BMW F650 Funduro, a custom made 4X4 Scorpio and a BMW 520. She was recently a judge for the NDTV Bike & Car Awards
The Maths & Politics graduate, who turned 31 last week, is interested in the concept of microcredit, developed by Nobel Prize winner Muhammed Yunus. “Muhammed says that sometimes just because it’s conventional doesn’t mean it has to be wisdom,” she explained, “Sometimes convention can also have stupidity woven into it. And banks have always traditionally lent money to people who don’t need it. If I can prove that I can buy a car that costs 100,000 dollars, then they will give me a loan for it. But if I have all the money then I don’t need the loan!” Microcredit takes a different approach and analyses the future possible earnings to be gained from an investment today – using future cashflow as the collateral against which the loan is made. It has revolutionised finance in neighbouring Bangladesh and is making inroads into India.
On the movie front, Gul is looking forward to the release of Rann, the RGV multistarrer that has Amitabh heading up the cast. “I am grateful that Ram Gopal Varma has given me a platform where I am sharing the screen with Big B,” she confirmed, “Rann is a film about men and their wars. But, having said that, someone like Ramu wouldn’t cast me in a role which won’t be remembered after the show commences.”
