Gul Panag hailed for refusing to answer question about Kangana Ranaut, other actors: 'Take my smile instead'

A video of actor Gul Panag, saying that she will not dignify the comments made by certain celebrities against the farmers' protest, is being widely shared online. The video shows Gul, at a protest site, refusing to comment against anyone, 'because that is what they want'.

Confronted by a reporter who asked her about the statements made by various Indian celebrities such as Akshay Kumar and Ajay Devgn about the farmers' protests being an internal matter, Gul said, "Nahi milega jo bayan aap chahte hain…muskurahat le lijie (You will not get the statement you're looking for, take my smile instead)." The celebrities' statements came after singer Rihanna' drew international attention to the protests through a tweet.

Prodded further about statements made by a certain actor who said that those supporting the farmers are breaking the nation apart, she said, "Hum unke baare me baat nahi karenge. Main to janti nahi aap kinke baare me baat kar rahe hain, kaun hain woh (I will not talk about that person. I don't know who you're talking about. Who is she)?"

"Woh ek abhinetri hain (She is an actor)," the reporter responded, perhaps making a reference to Kangana Ranaut, who had said in a tweet that Diljit Dosanjh and Priyanka Chopra were ‘misleading and encouraging’ farmers’ protests, but would be ‘hailed by the left media’ and given awards.

Actor Swara Bhasker reposted the video on Twitter. "Well done @GulPanag," she wrote. "She is a sweetheart!" another person wrote in response to the video. "She nailed it," and "Amazing job," were some more reactions to her handling of the situation.

Also read: Swara Bhasker, Richa Chadha rally in support of Taapsee Pannu and Anurag Kashyap after I-T raids

In a December interview with Outlook, Gul had spoken about why she'd joined the protesters. "... To undermine the protest and to give it all kinds of labels like anti-national, urban Naxal as well as the most dreaded word in Punjab that is Khalistan-inspired protest. I think this is absolutely unfair," she had said.