Veena Malik

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.

When 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.

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