Veena Malik tries hand at music videos

Veena Malik, the not-so-successful actor turned popular mimicry artist, catapulted to fame when she participated in one of Indian television’s top rated shows, Bigg Boss. She has also had singing stints in between (remember 2012’s Drama Queen?). She also featured in a video by Punjabi singer Sukhdeep Grewal. Now, it’s husband Asad Khattak’s debut music video that Malik has become a part of.

On Sunday evening, the good-looking couple launched a rap song titled Yeh Kya Baat Hui Hai? at an informal press conference at their home in Lahore. The song takes a dig at the political scenario in the country — corrupt politicians’ offshore companies, rigged elections, exploitation of the poor, etc — and also the way the media works.

The video, which is produced by Malik and directed by Ali N K, features a line-up of parody artists from the small screen who get to play different politicians.

Lollywood star Meera also makes an appearance. At the launch, it was revealed that the video was shot in a record time of “just one long shift of 18 hours,” at Bari Studios.

Sensing the controversial nature of the lyrics, Malik explained that there was “no political agenda behind it.” She also said that the intention was not to offend anyone but to highlight some of the issues in a funny manner. Hence, the disclaimer that appears at the start of the video: “The ability to laugh at ourselves is the best level of tolerance.”

When quizzed about the title of the song, she said it had been picked from her famous encounter with a “mufti saheb” on national television in which she was dubbed a “fahaash” (Urdu word for ‘immoral’).

For the uninitiated, Malik earned herself many detractors in her home country, following her participation in Bigg Boss, and a magazine shoot in India where she posed semi-naked.

It caused an uproar and she had to face a media trial. In one such ‘trial’, she was pitted against Mufti Abdul Qavi (recently incarcerated in the Qandeel Baloch murder case).

In 2013, Malik married Khattak, a businessman and an aspiring singer, in Dubai. Incidentally, the duo’s first TV appearance back home got them the most serious charge ever — of blasphemy — in which a local court sentenced them to 26 years in prison.

Though, they came out of it unhurt, Malik is said to have got death threats at the time. All of which forced her into self-exile in the US.

She bid an unofficial goodbye to showbusiness, and started wearing an abaya and headscarf. During this time, she also hosted a small-time show on a private TV channel during Ramadan. Again, her critics said that she was trying to prove a point.

Malik managed to return to Pakistan a couple of years ago, and has resumed work on TV as a parody artist. She is also the mother of two boys.