Veena Malik

Infobox actor

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imagesize=280px
caption=Veena Malik posing for the cameras at the red carpet event for the Lux Style Awards 2007.
birthname=Zahida Malik
birthdate=Birth date and age|1980|02|26
birthplace=Lahore, Pakistan
active=1999 - present
occupation=Actress, comedian and model|

Veena Malik, born Zahida Malik, is a Pakistani actress, comedian and model.

Coming from a conservative Muslim family, Veena has faced great adversity from members of her family, especially her father,cite web|title=Biography|url=http://www.veenamalik.info/|publisher=Veena Malik fansite|accessdate=2008-08-11] on her decision to join show business but has emerged as one of the leading women in the Pakistani television and films with her abilities to mimic others and improvise. Veena has worked as a representative at the World Health Organisation for two years and sponsors a child at the SOS Children's Village, an NGO based in Pakistan working with orphaned children.cite web|title=Kiran aur George: Veena Malik|url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvZp9PGnYvI|publisher=YouTube|accessdate=2008-08-11]

Biography

Early life

Veena Malik has claimed to be born on 26 February 1980 in Lahore, Pakistan, to a doctor working at an army medical hospital. The family soon settled in Rawalpindi after the child was born. Her grandmother named her Zahida but the parents insisted on keeping Veena as the girl's first name. Her father's busy schedule led her grandmother to become Veena's guardian from the time she was six years old and nurtured her until her teens when she died.

rquote|right|Why on earth is she doing this? I always thought her to be such a nice girl.|A friend's mother upon hearing Veena was thinking of going into the film industryWhen she grew up, Veena expressed interest in joining films and her grandmother encouraged her. Her father however pondered over his daughter's fate in an industry that was deemed unsuitable for girls in Pakistan and looked down upon by the mostly conservative middle-class, and he initially resisted his daughter's attempts to pursue a career in entertainment. Veena received continuous support from her grandmother however, whose persuasiveness finally enabled her father to allow her to join film and television. People still, some even close to her, scorned her choice of career.

Career and hype

Like all people desiring to join the industry in Pakistan, Veena started with the film industry in Lahore, the home of "Lollywood", an amalgamation of the city's name with Hollywood. She was to meet the likes of Mukhtar Ahmed and Jarar Rizvicite web|url=http://www.mag4you.com/spotlight/Veena+Malik/3230.htm|title=Spotlight: Veena Malik|publisher=Mag4u|accessdate=2008-08-11] in 1999, who landed her a role in the epic Pakistani film "Tere Pyar Mein". By the end of the year, she was already being considered for other such projects when she became a part of a growing scandal.

candals and controversies

What appeared to be her nude pictures were being circulated on the Internet and became an issue of debate by the end of 2001.cite web|url=http://www.showbiz.com.pk/thebuzz/buzz_34.htm|title=Veena's last hope|publisher=The Buzz at Showbiz Pakitan|accessdate=2008-06-16] Veena repeatedly denied the accusations saying she never appeared in any photo shoots of such kind. The controversies were short-lived but boosted Veena's appeal in the industry and soon she was sought out for more roles in other hit films.

In light of these scandalous controversies, Veena was once accused in 2004 of being involved in indecent acts by one of her co-stars. After filming a cross-border venture with Bollywood named "Pind Di Kuri", actress Sheeba Butt added, “That is what her real character is like. It is a matter of disrespect for us.” This came after Veena's comments that Sheeba's acting etiquette ‘"had tarnished the image of Pakistan by causing a loss"’ of 70,000 rupees to the Indian Punjabi producer Iqbal Singh Dhillon [cite web|url=http://pakistantimes.net/2004/07/19/societal3.htm|title=Sheeba Butt hits back at Veena Malik|publisher=Pakistan Times|accessdate=2008-06-17] for which Veena claims she had to compensate for from her own pocket. [cite web|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_1-7-2004_pg7_25|title=Sheeba Butt hits back at Veena Malik|publisher=The Daily Times|accessdate=2008-06-17] The film was the first Indo-Pakistan venture with the largest budget amounting to 70 million rupees. [cite web|url=http://pakistantimes.net/2004/07/01/societal2.htm|title=Veena as 'Pind Di Kuri' in Bollywood|publisher=Pakistan Times|accessdate=2008-06-17]

Meera would later accuse Veena of having an affair with Mukhtar, [cite web|url=http://www.bollywoodsargam.com/bollywood_news.php?newsstory=833445212--0-latest-Meera_and_Veena_Malik_cat_fight_bollywood_news.html|title=Meera and Veena Malik cat fight|publisher=Bollywood Sargam|accessdate=2008-06-17] Veena's mentor and agent who was formerly Meera's agent. [cite web|url=http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_14-11-2003_pg7_17|title=Veena throws an Iftar party for gliterrati|publisher=Daily Times|accessdate=2008-06-17] It was reported that after she returned from filming her film "Nazar" in Mumbai, Meera was apparently annoyed of Veena doing a mimicry of her at a certain event.

Recent success

Veena has almost always been cast as a supporting actor. It is unclear if she herself stayed clear of the leading roles or was denied them. Industry enthusiasts say that the only genre Veena was good at was 'comedy' and the directors failed to create a leading role around her acting skills. The criticism was taken well with Veena and she began to hone her skills even more in comedy. In 2002, she was called by Prime TV to host a show called "Prime Gupshup"cite web|title=ON AIR: prime gupshup|url=http://www.dawn.com/weekly/yworld/archive/020706/yworld18.htm|publisher=DAWN Newspaper|accessdate=2008-08-11] for them ushering a new direction for her comedic skills and she improvised on the hour-long show occasionally mimicking actors. The show's format was such a great success added with the charisma that she brought with her that Veena received offers from various other channels as well. She was recently cast to host the Geo TV show "Hum Sub Umeed Say Hain" where she was hailed for her comedic parodies.cite web|url=http://jang.com.pk/thenews/oct2007-weekly/nos-28-10-2007/instep/mainissue.htm|title=INSTEP: Bright lights, small village|publisher=Jang Group]

In 2007, she graced the red carpet event of the Lux Style Awards and was awarded as being the ‘"most stylish celebrity on the carpet"’. With the recent hype surrounding her achievements at the LSA, Veena was offered roles after another in various films. Staying away from films which she calls 'formula films' she starred most recently in Mohabbatan Sachiyan, which was considered the best Punjabi film to come out of Lollywood in a long time. This film features Veena in the leading role and has paved her way as a prominent A-list actress in the Pakistani film industry.

Early in 2008, rumours of Veena suffering a heart-attackcite web|title=Veena Malik Receives Heart Attack|url=http://www.pakspectator.com/veena-malik-receives-heart-attack/|publisher=Pakistan Spectator|accessdate=2008-08-11] were revealed to be exaggerations, and she was diagnosed instead with a mildly serious form of tachycardia. In an interview with Kiran and George on their show "Kiran Aur George", she described her turmoil during the time of her illness. It has been subsequently reported that she prepared a will as a result of this incident and entrusted it to her sister.

Filmography

Notes

External links

*imdb|0997433|Veena Malik