Veena never left India: Manager

Dec 19, 2011 IANS

Mumbai, Dec 18 (IANS) Pakistani actress Veena Malik was reported to have gone missing. While a Pakistani website said she had returned home, her manager denied this, saying she is still in India.

He also clarified that this was not a publicity stunt for her forthcoming reality show.

The 33-year-old went missing since Friday morning and Geo TV reported Veena entered Pakistan through the Wagha border in Punjab on Friday. The also report said she was clad in a burqa and her passport bears her real name Zahida.

"Veena never left the country as she was busy shooting for (her debut movie) 'Zindagi 50-50'. It was just that on 16th of this month she got to know that she is getting some time off from the shoot, so she planned to spend some quality time with herself," manager Pratik Mehta told IANS on the phone from Mumbai.

Mehta said she changed her location and switched off her mobile phone, which had created some panic.

"She changed her hotel to Oakwood and also also kept her mobile phone off during the entire period so I was not able to contact her. She was going through such a tough time after all those controversies (related to her nude photo shoot FHM magazine) that she thought of rejuvenating herself," he said.

"This was not at all a publicity stunt as many are saying. People can't even imagine her situation. She is pressurised from everywhere -- from her family, the Pakistani government and the moral police. This is why she thought of keeping herself under wraps for some time," he said.

Veena hogged the limelight after she testified against her boyfriend, Pakistani bowler Mohammed Asif, alleging he was involved in match fixing. She became popular after her stint in the fourth season of reality show "Bigg Boss". She was denounced by Islamic clerics for her nude photos in the FHM magazine.

The actress is set to have her 'swayamvar' on the Imagine TV channel.