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Monday, December 5, 2011

Veena sues Indian magazine over ‘morphed’ cover photo


Pakistani actress Veena Malik has filed a defamation suit against an Indian magazine for a "morphed" cover photo of her posing nude with the initials of Pakistan s intelligence agency on her arm. Malik s spokesman, Sohail Rasheed, said on Monday that the actress was seeking 100 million rupees ($2 million) in damages from FHM India, whose editor insists the cover shoot was genuine and consensual. "The picture has been morphed," Rasheed said in Islamabad, adding that the magazine had targeted Malik s "credibility and character". The magazine s December issue has yet to hit newsstands. But a preview of the cover on its website triggered media frenzy. FHM India editor Kabeer Sharma told AFP at the weekend that he was mystified by Malik s allegations. "Maybe she is facing some kind of backlash, so maybe that s why she is denying it. "We have not photoshopped or faked the cover. This is what she looks like, she has an amazing body," Sharma said. In his Twitter feed on Monday, Sharma said he would release a series of photos from the shoot proving his version of the story. While Malik s pose on the cover preserves a scant degree of modesty, any nudity is still very much frowned upon in conservative India -- and indeed in Muslim-majority Pakistan. What has raised more eyebrows was her arm sporting the initials ISI -- the acronym for Inter-Services Intelligence, Pakistan s spy agency. Nuclear-armed India and Pakistan have gone to war three times and the ISI has been routinely accused by New Delhi of masterminding militant attacks on Indian soil. Sharma said the idea had been to take an ironic swipe at India s obsession with the ISI. A tag line on the cover that points to the initials, reads: "Hand in the end of the world too?" "People, especially young people in both countries, want to move past this kind of thinking," the editor said. "It s a very powerful picture -- it took a lot of guts for her to do that. It shows a powerful, sexy woman not afraid to speak her mind." Malik is already well known in India for appearing on "Bigg Boss", the country s version of the television reality show "Big Brother". She incurred the wrath of hardline Islamic clerics in Pakistan for her performance on the show, during which she indulged in several intimate scenes with Indian actor Ashmit Patel that included massaging his head and neck.

FHM magazine vs Veena Malik


Veena Malik, a Pakistani actress who posed in the nude for an Indian magazine with the initials of Pakistan’s intelligence agency on her arm, has triggered fury across this conservative nation. The photo on the website of FHM India, in advance of its publication in the magazine’s December issue, has been lighting up social network website Facebook and Twitter since earlier this week. Many here anticipate a backlash. Malik has broken Pakistani social and national taboos in the past. She is a target for conservative ire and a heroine to some Pakistani liberals. Conservative cleric Maulana Abdul Qawi declared on TV on Saturday that the latest controversy was a ”shame for all Muslims.” Farzana Naz, interviewed by the same channel on the streets of Lahore, said that the actress had ”bowed all us women in shame. ”Twitter commentator Umair Javed however called on Pakistanis to ”make copies of the picture and bury it in your backyard. This way, our grandkids will know there were some amongst us who lived free!” Asked by reporters whether Pakistan would ”pursue the matter” legally, the country’s Interior Minister Rehman Malik said Saturday, ”First, let us see whether it is real or fake.” Malik for her part says that the photo at the root of the current uproar was published in violation of her agreement with FHM India. In an interview with Pakistani Geo television broadcast Saturday, Malik acknowledged having been photographed for a ”bold but not nude shot.” She said the editor of the magazine had promised that he would cover most of the photo with the ISI initials. Malik said that the photo was intended to poke fun at the Indian fear of Pakistani spies: ”Whatever happens (in India), people say ISI is behind that.” Malik said she would ”probably” take a legal action against the magazine for violating terms and condition. Magazine editor Kabeer Sharma said Malik did all with her full consent. ”We have all the record(s),” he told the Pakistani television station. ”Veena was very excited about that ISI idea.” Malik does most of her work in India. The entertainment sector there is booming, while Pakistan’s is relatively moribund. Her ties to India have landed her in controversy in the past. During a much-publicised talk show appearance early this year, she lashed out her nemesis Abdul Qawi, who criticised her for having a scripted love affair with an Indian actor on an Indian reality show. ”What is your problem with me?” an angry Malik demanded of the scholar, who had accused her of insulting Islam. While Veena is claiming that she has been taken for a ride, the editor of the FHM magazine, Kabeer Sharma, has gone on record to state that Malik had done everything with her full consent. Mahesh Bhatt, who was recently in the news for having cast Sunny Leone in ‘Jism 2,’ has now spoken to both parties to ascertain what the confusion is all about. “I had never spoken to Veena before and didn’t know her at all. But since so much is being said about her shoot and I too have been asked to share my views on it, I decided to speak to her. She was surprised to get my call and told me that though she had told a shoot but had never been so bold. She felt she was being victimized and that people were believing that she has done something like this because of her otherwise controversial persona. I told her three things – If you feel you are being violated, don’t take anything lying down. Send a legal notice to the magazine. I also asked her to get her PR to take charge and inform her side of the story to the media. Unless she does that, the media will continue writing about her because nothing is more exciting today than a sexual scandal. I have also asked her to get in touch with the joint commissioner of police in Mumbai,” Bhatt says. Meanwhile, Bhatt has also spoken to the editor of the magazine. “Kabeer told me that the Veena had indeed shot for the magazine. He also forwarded me another photograph of Veena from the shoot. The photograph that has been doing the rounds is tame and the one sent to me was bolder with portions …….visible. However, I saw the photo on my Blackberry and have no way to ascertain whether it morphed or not,” Bhatt adds. But does he believe that a nude photoshoot can be a product of photoshop work? To this Bhatt says, “I remember a time when my daughter, Pooja, was involved in such a scandal. After that whole incident, IK Gujral had then told me that though we used to believe that a picture doesn’t lie, it’s time to junk that phrase now. I think, instead of taking a stand we need to first ask photoshop experts to ascertain when Veena’s picture is morphed or not. While every individual has the right to express any craving in front of the world, it’s also a fact that every civilization has its own dos and don’ts.”

Iran downs US drone, threatens reprisal


Iran threatened to retaliate for the violation, Iranian media reported. The Al-Alam Arabic language satellite channel, quoting a military source in Iran s joint chiefs of staff, said late Sunday the RQ-170 unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down "a few hours ago." The Fars news agency, which has close ties to the Revolutionary Guards responsible for Iran s air defence and ballistic missile systems, said the drone had made an incursion into Iran s eastern airspace. "Our air defence and electronic warfare units managed to identify and shoot down an advanced unmanned spy aircraft -- an RQ-170 -- after it briefly violated the eastern border territory," Fars said, quoting an unnamed military source. The drone "was downed with slight damage. It is now under the control of our forces," the source added. The source warned that Iran s armed response would "not be limited to our country s borders" for the "blatant territorial violation." The RQ-170 Sentinel is a high-altitude reconnaissance drone whose existence was revealed in 2009 by specialised reviews and later confirmed by the US Air Force in 2010. In January, Iran announced that its forces had downed two US drones after they violated Iranian-controlled airspace.