Veena Malik (born Zahida Malik on 26 February 1978) is a Pakistani Lollywood actress, model and comedienne. She has established herself as one of the leading women in the Pakistani television and film industry with her abilities to mimic others and improvise.

Malik has also 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. She also featured as a housemate in the Indian reality television show Bigg Boss 4.

Early life

Veena was born in Rawalpindi, to Aslam Malik, a Pakistan Army soldier, and his wife, Zeenat Malik. The family settled in Rawalpindi after her birth. Her father often remained away from home, so she was brought up by her grandmother and mother until she was in her late teens when her grandmother died. Malik grew up expressing an interest in joining the Lollywood film industry and her grandmother decided to encourage her.

Television

Malik has usually 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 she was good at was 'comedy' and the directors failed to create a leading role around her acting skills. The criticism was taken well by her 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 for them ushering a new direction for her comedic skills and she improvised on the hour-long show occasionally mimicking actors.

She hosted the Geo TV show Hum Sub Umeed Say Hain, in which she was hailed for her comedic parodies.Veena Malik performing to the tunes of Naheed Akhtar at the Lux Style Awards 2007. 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’.

Bigg Boss Season 4

In September 2010, Malik was approached to become part of the Indian television reality show, Bigg Boss Season 4, hosted by Salman Khan. She accepted the offer and remained a part of the show that started on October 3, 2010. She was evicted two weeks before the finals. She was the final 6 contestants out of 14 finalists. Malik was also part of the finale of the show.