Tribune Take: Veena Malik scandal, a publicity stunt?
Maha Amin, senior sub-editor of The Express Tribune's Life & Style pages, discusses Veena Malik's claims that the cover of For Him Magazine (FHM) is a fake.
Malik has filed for monetary damages against FHM to the sum of Indian Rs100,000,000 following their release of two magazine covers featuring the diva naked.
Amin says the blatant ISI references are a publicity stunt owned by Malik herself, adding that even in a bikini with a grenade in her mouth, the photo shoot was bound to cause an uproar.
The nudity aspect of the scandal being a publicity stunt seems like a far fetched idea, Amin adds.
Whatever the case, the nude covers have garnered ample attention for the little known FHM magazine along with press for the Pakistani actor as well.
Read Maha Amin's articles here.
The Tribune Take daily news web show will appear on the tribune.com.pk home page.
The Take will feature in-depth interviews and analysis with editors and reporters who are covering the major stories, exploring front page events and major ledes. The news analysis covers the way The Express Tribune examines a story, how we cover it and why.
COMMENTS (51)
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@Altaf Hussain, @ Mohsin,
well i must say that i am ashamed of ur concepts about this so called "nude art", my dear brother this social "liberalism" of yours is termed as immodesty in our religion and obviously i don't have a right to stop that shameless woman but i have every right to express my disgust.your concepts about religion seem to be greatly contaminated it looks as if you have never opened the Quran or else u would know that Islam promotes peace and freedom and purdah is for protecting this freedom of women not suffocating them. i perfectly agree with KILLUMINATI. i have never said that i am a perfect Muslim but there is no doubt that Islam is a perfect religion and for mohsin i don't want to drag this India-Pak conflict in this argument so plz keep ur views with u and do think that if revealing ur body is "modernism" and "liberalism" then animals are way more modern and liberal than us. and i think that porn and nudity is not promoted even in the respectable families of India whether hindus or muslims, so just limit your liberal views 2 ur self.
nope
@PARVEZ ALAM: You have no reason to worry. Any one with an alternative and an open mind is likely to soon try and leave Pakistan. At least Veena Malik has her career to fall back on. As long as you guys try to control peoples lives in the name of Islam, you will never care for eachother (fellow muslims/ Pakistanis), let alone others. Everything will be attributed to defense of the glory of your religion. Well the fact is that religions do not need defending - the tragedy is that they are represented by the behavior of their strongest proponents/ adherents. Veena Malik is not doing anything in the name of Islam - you are. You represent Islam to many, and this is the misfortune of well-meaning, educated, liberal muslims across the world, including India, who faces discrimination because of you. We all know who needs to be ashamed.
@PARVEZ ALAM: Why not shame on you for considering Islam to be supeior to other religions? Why not shame on you for considering women to be a child producing machine and/or an object to be kept in purdah? You guys need to grow up, or otherwise we muslims will never be able to compete in the global village.
@Altaf: I agree completely with your elaborate description of art. These people won't know what they are missing in Pakistan...
@Angry: If this is your perpetual state of mind then i am sorry brother your islam is not helping you, because mine keeps me cool, happy and tolerant. And i don't need tv serials and bollywood to feed me as I have been living it up as an indian. Why every muslim has to be non-indian for you?? Have peace and be happy. Thats the islamic way...
@Parvez: people like you make islam sound like a curse. Come to india and practice true islam as i have been doing all my life...
Shame on You Mr. Altaf,,, this is what indians has diverted indian muslims,, you are exactly a example of that.. shame on You,, calling porn start and nude ,model as muslim,,, shame on you
The end game of Veena is likely to be the same of Mohammad Asif (Pakistan's most corrupt cricketer). Both should end up in a same prison cell, What a pitty!
People comment that 'we should leave Veena alone' the question is will Veena let you leave her alone ? - This girl is a one woman army.
E.T is really obsessed with Veena just like TOI of India. May be these two outlets have nothing to post
i'm agree wit altaf hussain, and more over about veena, i have no idea and moreova nothing much to say, it mi8 be can a publicity, or some1's plan dat doesnt matter. but y including caste in dis issue........
Does Veena blow up people or throw acid on faces like the terrorists do? How is she personally harming you? india is everything that pakistan is not i.e. tolerant, free and peaceful society. Firstly it is her body, she can do whatever she wants with it, let Allah judge her,after all it is Allah who forbids such stuff.
well i would like to inform u that veena has just thrown some acid on your religion, we would'nt damn care what she does if she stops justifying herself as a "muslim" and a "sincere pakistani" and as for this mohsin who is under the illusion that india is a "peaceful and liberal" society, i would like to tell u that u are relying on the indian serials and films a bit too much, if u take a look at the real local indian community u are gonna b shocked my dear brother, the reality is an extreme opposite to what is being portrayed in the dramas nd films. i would like to remind some people that we have everything to do with this case. islam has defined a particular way of life for us muslims and this scandal contradicts it, otherwise i would repeat that there is no need for veena to call herself a Muslim.
You guys must realize that Indian law on both print and electronic media allows nudity in adult entertainment platforms. The censor is self imposed, that is, you as an adult decide what you want to see or read. Veena Malik is just one of the hundreds of models in the nude art industry. Just to give you an idea, a current participant of popular realty show Big Boss V is a registered pornographic artist. She has acted in xxx movies and is proud about it. So please stop mixing religion with art or nudity. Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism or any other religion has nothing to do this. This is a case of either commerce, art or hobby, all of which should be okay in any reasonable society.
@Omega Supreme:
"In that case, you may as well forego your Pakistani passport & become an Indian. We have no need of such crass & amoral people like you maligning us for no damn reason."
Will you also ask the terrorists like Quadri who do far worse to leave Pakistan and forgo their citizenship? Or, are you being a moral judge who is selective in your moral outrage?
This is a usual stuff from Veena Malik, many of must have remembered that before the times of FB & Twitter our e-mail inboxes were honored with the nude pictures of Veena Malik to which I think she also denied or acted innocent. So I think her denial about these pictures is just to create a controversy and surely a cheap publicity stunt and anyone who pulls this kind of publicity stunt is cheap. If she has done it with will, then she must come out and admit, it is as simple as that.
@Omega Supreme: Dear Omega Supreme, why dump your garbage in India brother?
@Sharjeel: I hope this helps to clear your mind - 1. Yes, we have shiv sena but it doesn't give death threats when people pose nude or do their job. People and govt never support it (unlike ppl in comments above and pakistan in general). And, most importantly, like JuD and similar fanatics in pakistan, they don't use school kids in rallies, and are condemned openly. 2. And what about Kashmir? It is definitely real bro...One of the most beautiful 'Indian' tourist spot and thriving too (max number of indian and foreign tourist ever this year). I was there last year with 6 of my friends (1 muslim, 3 hindus and 2 muslim kashmiris for statistics) and we had a time of our life and yes, we smoked and drank too. See this is free india. No one judged anyone. You should definitely visit sometime.
if this symbol of pak womenhood says her pics were morphed..then it must be true..the actual pics are actually totally revealing and are being looked at by the mullahs....
Anyone ever understand what this Kulamarva Balakrishna writes? I love South India, btw. :) Regards, Rehan
@windows to internet: What, Pakistan is new KSA?
Can't we just let her be and focus on own lives instead
@Mohsin: "india is everything that pakistan is not i.e. tolerant, free and peaceful society."
Really? I guess Kashmir & Shiv Sena are just figments of our imaginations then eh? What're you smoking bro?
Firstly it is her body, she can do whatever she wants with it, let Allah judge her,after all it is Allah who forbids such stuff.
Secondly, I dont understand why so many Pakistani feel ashamed and are angry that a woman poses naked...how about the real outrages stuff like the utter illetracy, the grinding poverty, the intolarance, the religious bigotery for which Pakistan is so famous for, the corrupt elite, the lack of justice.....
Thirdly, if people in Pakistan wouldnt consider themselves as Islams thekedar she could have made pic in Pak, instead of sleeping with enemy.
All this is to gain cheap publicity by the actress and the magazine and to defame Pakistan and ISI.
Hats off and more power to Veena, I say. She should not have to apologize for posing nude. It's not illegal in India (as far as I know), and that makes it no business of anyone in Pakistan. Get over it, there are more important issues to focus on.
this is a complete waste ov time.....i think we should leave veena alone
@Jeans: You are absolutely right... this is the difference between india and pakistan... india is everything that pakistan is not i.e. tolerant, free and peaceful society. We don't judge people on their profession and we certainly do not give death threats (as above) if people are posing nude or whatever in magazines... so pls stop being hypocrite and enjoy the circus!!!
@windows to internet:
". must be hanged infront of Public… We don’t care about Veena… We bother about our Faith Islam and our country Pakistan… nothing else… "
Why is it anyone's business what Veena does with her body? On the one hand you say you don't care about Veena but you want to hang her! Is Veena stopping you from "bothering" about "your faith Islam and Pakistan"? Why is it your business to judge others? Does Veena blow up people or throw acid on faces like the terrorists do? How is she personally harming you?
At least being a Pakistani we are feeling proud that our whole nation is criticizing the act she did, but at the same time there is porn star in Indian reality show (BB5), and the whole nation has voted her to be on show and liked her very much, that's the difference b/w Pak and Ind.
Well. Veena has a new movie coming. So you could say that this is the teaser. Plus this seems like the Janet Jackson stunt where Janet showed her left nipple during halftime at the Super Bowl and Next week had her music album released. Point being, Janet was on the news for 2 weeks and her album soared to number 1 when released. Coincidence?! I don't think so. Marketing stunt so that everyone will be talking about Janet Jackson and eventually buy her album because she is all controversial. Definite YES!!! Let's see if this works for Veena.
i think it was all carefully and well planned. if i connect the chains i feel she actually did nude pics and these pics are genuine.Its not possible for any companies to break a contract and specially on issues which are sensitive.Veena and FHM confused the people by mixing nudity and ISI. So objection is nudity or ISI. I think most of Pakistani people are offended by her nudity not ISI issue.Next big news would she is dating a rich Hindu man from India.she is prepared to go to any lengths to have fame and money.
I have read the article published on hindustantimes some hours before. There the Editor Kabeer and Vishal Sexana comfirmed that If Veena Malik go to court, we have proof of her nude photoshot in the form of Video Clip.. from this it is cleared that she was agree with nude photoshots... Very shameful .. must be hanged infront of Public...
We don't care about Veena... We bother about our Faith Islam and our country Pakistan... nothing else...
I hope tomorrow everything would be cleared.
Best Regards.
its a fund-raising stunt
@Ms Marium: We are not bother about Veena less we bother about Islam, Pakistan and ISI. Veena should be punished in such a way that would remain a simble for other.....
Definitely it was a publicity stunt and she has been successful pulling this out. She is now famous all over the world literary. a the law suit thing is just lame
Vienna,December 5,2011 I have read ET text of Lawyer Ayaz Bilawala´s notice to FHM Editor and the Photographer.It sounds unprofessional and being implied confession.That apart it was obligatory on the editor and the model sign behind the photos approved for publication.In 1957, I was fifty four years younger. I interviwed Prof.Dr.V.K.Gokak as he was elected President of Dharwar Kannada Sahitya Sammelan. To avoid complications, I requested Prof.Gokak to sign my text as seen and approved. There are methods in even journalistic and modelling madness! I wish I could get hold of FHM standard contract form with the model. Taravadu Taranga Trust for Media Monitoring TTTMM India --Kulamarva Balakrishna