Indicast # 110: An Encore with Gul Panag

Friday, 29 January 2010 00:00

Some good soul has said that 'Having a good conversation is one of the great joys of being human...' And if it is coupled with the sustained charm, wit and energy of Gul Panag, you are in for a treat. A big shout out to Gul who did an encore of sorts by firing away on topics ranging from the controversial Padma Shree awards to the relevance of National awards in today's context.

For a self confessed cricket un-fan, Gul was pretty vocal about the non selection of the Pakistani players in the IPL. And we also got some first hand dope on her forthcoming release, 'Rann'. Gul enriches an enviable ensemble cast which include the likes of Paresh Rawal and Amitabh Bachchan. The movie releases today. Check it our over the weekend!

You can follow Gul on Twitter @GulPanag and catch up with what she is up to on her blog.

Episode Notes

The Padma Shree awards go awry
Who is Sant SIngh Chatwal?
The 56th The National Awards announced
The IPL controversy
Ram Gopal Verma's Rann releases

Listen Online (64 kbps) - 25 mins

Download episode: MP3 File (18 MB)

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Comments

+1 #1 Akhilesh Matto 2010-01-30 21:54

Hey Guys….

Oh!! Gul you are on Fire in this one.. “Are these (Padma Awards) awards open to purview of RTI”….You guys actually tore the Padma awards… I wonder what people of Ministry of Home Affairs have to say….

A very Enjoyable episode….
Thanks and Regards

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-1 #2 Patrix 2010-01-30 22:00

A good discussion on the Padma awards. One question you didn’t discuss is whether we need these awards at all. Especially when 81 of them are awarded in a year, aren’t the awards devaluing themselves? Imagine a typical Bollywood party – Hey, congrats man, I heard you got yourself a Padma. Hope it wasn’t Rushdie’s ex-wife..hehehe. Thanks, man you got one last year, right? And hey, how about you? Don’t worry, man, I’ll get it next year.

Re: Gul’s comments on increasing government regulation. I’m sure she remembers India’s golden years of 2% growth pre-1991. Everyone was so poor and happy. Heck, even our television choices were simple. Just one DD channel that our government trusted us with. Sigh! Good times.

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+1 #3 Ritika 2010-02-04 17:27

I think its extremely insensitive to say that Karkare n co were at a wrong place on a wrong time and they got hit my bullet bcoz of inappropriate bullet proof jackets.

Firstly, they just didnt happen to be there. It wasnt as if they were roaming in a jeep and got hit. They went their to fight with the terrorists and died in that encounter. How is it diff than a NSG commando entering Taj? Didnt they both go into dangerous territory knowing what cud have been the consequences?
Padma awards were given to 81 citizens but we talk about only Saif. What if the rest 80 are really deserving? Just bcoz we have one undeserving ( according to sum people) that doesnt mean we question all 80 ppl. Sad part is tht no1 even talks about the rest or d good work they mite hv done. we read only about celebrities and give our comments.
And any award is subjected to controversy. Be it a Nobel or an Oscar. As long as humans r invloved in selection, thr always will b a subjectivity

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-1 #4 Rolwin Lewis 2010-02-04 22:20

Loved this episode. Great debate with Gul thrown into the mix. I thought she brought balance to the India-Pak i.e. IPL discussion which is typically 1-sided on Indicast. There is a lot written about the IPL issue and most incl. myself see the issue differently. IPL being a pvt. enterprise is free to set the rules all the way up to not allowing Pak players from participating. That is okay. What is not okay is being dishonest about it. The IPL gave reasons of Govt. influence, player availability, player suitability - each one of these reasons has been neatly taken apart by writers who are very knowledgeable about the game and politics surrounding it.

Regards

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+1 #5 Abhishekumar 2010-02-05 22:09

@ Rowlin: You're right. There were a few topics on which we ended up debating a bit, and also helped that Gul is not much of a cricket fan.

@Patrix: Sad part is that these awards will lose sheen over time. The problem is not only with the recipients (Chatwal and the likes) but the way the selection process is conducted!

@ Ritika: Would leave it to Gul to answer the one on Ashoka Chakra. About the Padma Shree - The process as I mentioned above is appalling. Sure Saif does not represent the whole contingent which got the awards, but may be the ones who got the Padma awards deserve something better if folks like Satwal with an enviable resume for fraud (as quoted by newspapers) are awarded the same awards.

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