Vaneeza Ahmad

Vaneeza Ahmad Ali, nicknamed Vinny, (Urdu: ونیزہ احمد‎; born June 29, 1971) is a Pakistani model and actress. Ahmad has earned a reputation of being the most famous and sought-after female model and celebrity in Pakistan. Initially interested in medicine with a degree in psychology, she joined modeling as a casual hobby only to be become the face of some of the leading brands in Pakistan. She married Pakistani businessman, Ali Afzal Malik, in July 2010. She has two daughters Inaya and Sofiya Jahan Ali.

Early life

Vaneeza Ahmad was born into a Muslim family in Murree, Pakistan but later she moved to Germany with her parents to study. She was pressured by her parents to get into medicine when she was in high school. She was to return to Pakistan at the age of 18 to study further medicine; but her plans were thwarted by a lack of high school physics and she decided to rather attend Kinnaird College in Lahore.

With her interests still inclined towards medicine, she graduated from Kinnaird College with a bachelor's degree in psychology. In her brief stay at the college, she started to model casually. Not much interested in modelling as a career option, she was showered with offers from various fashion designers, some of which were notable in the Pakistani fashion industry including the likes of fashion designer Nilofer Shahid.

She got married to Ali Afzal Malik (businessman, 42)in 2010. She has given some interviews in which she has stated that her husband and she were made for each other. She had known him in Lahore in the early to mid 90's and was heartbroken when he left to move to the United States. He came back in 2009 and they were soon married. The couple is known to be enthralled with each other. They became parents in 2012.

Modelling as a career

When Nilofer approached Vaneeza, she was unsure of which career to pursue and settled for fashion modeling. Her initial walks at fashion shows led fashion critics to praise her elegance on the cat-walk. In dealings with corporate heads of the entertainment industry, her business acumen was similarly praised.

Vaneeza, the brand

Recently Vaneeza conjured a brand name Vlawn for her range of lawn fabrics and the branding created a hype among the fashion conscious public. The collection consisted of nine different lawn prints created by designers that included Nomi Ansari, Umar Sayeed and Hassan Sheheryar Yasin. In March 2006, the collection sold-out in a series of exhibitions. In 2011, Vanneza has continued with her "VLawn" brand of women's lawn suits. The new exhibition is eagerly awaited by women of all ages and will be coming to all major cities of Pakistan.

Acting and acclaim

In a country where women are not expected to make smart and calculated decisions in business matters of monetary concerns, Vaneeza always stayed with the career for the sake of money. With her peer Iraj Manzoor, Vaneeza is described as having "amassed a veritable fortune via straight-shooting endorsement deals and sensible choices" within a decade and a half.

Ahmad made her acting debut in Jamal Shah's controversial saga Kal and has since acted in Marina Khan's Tum Hi Tau Ho, Janey Anjaney and Tum Say Mil Ker; Armaan; and Talaash. She played the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah's daughter Dina Wadia in Jamil Dehlavi's 1998 biopic, Jinnah.

On 16 April 2008, Vaneeza Ahmad was selected as one of the Olympic torch bearers when the torch arrived in Islamabad. She was one of the few selected celebrities to hold the torch in the relay out of the chosen 66.