Actress in Punit Malhotra-directed SOTY 2, which marks debuts of Ananya Panday and Tara Sutaria.

Gul Panag recently sprung a surprise (Mirror, August 2) by revealing that she and her husband Rishi Attari became parents to baby boy, Nihal, six months ago. Now, Mirror has learnt that the actress and former pageant queen joined the cast of Punit Malhotra’s campus romance, Student of the Year 2, three months after giving birth. In the Karan Johar production which marks the acting debuts of Chunky Panday’s daughter Ananya and TV actress Tara Sutaria opposite Tiger Shroff, Gul plays a sports coach, a character essayed by Ronit Roy in the franchise’s fi rst instalment. Samir Soni has stepped into Rishi Kapoor’s shoes as the school principal in the much-anticipated sequel which opens on May 10.

A source from the sets reveals,“The team was looking for an extremely fit actress who was comfortable riding a bike and could play a sports coach to the new ‘students’. Gul quickly lost weight after her delivery and began shooting in May, joining the team during the film’s Mussoorie schedule and in Dehradun, where it was shot at FRI (Forest Research Institite) which was converted into Saint Teresa s chool for the shoot.”

In the film, Gul has a sporty look which, keeping her character in mind, is dominated by shorts and tights. The SOTY 2 shoot will wrap up by September-end. The team will be travelling to Dehradun and Mussoorie again after completing the ongoing patchwork in Mumbai. Shooting for the film kicked off in April.