Iranian actress banned from her home country after posing nude

Golshifteh Farahani as she appeared in Madame Le Figaro. The subsequent posting on her
Facebook page drew both criticism and praise from around the world.

An Iranian actress who has starred with Leonardo DiCarpio and Russell Crowe has been banished from her home country of Iran because she posed nude in a French news magazine.

The actress was none other than Golshifteh Farahani, a beautiful Iranian actress. She says she has been contacted by the Iranian government, telling her that she is no longer welcome in the country and advising her not to return home.

The offending photo was a black-and-white art shot featuring the 28-year-old Farahani posing against a black backdrop with her hands strategically placed over her breasts. It was first published in Madame Le Figaro.

Farahani became the first Iranian to star in a Hollywood film with her role as
Aisha in Body of Lies, with Leonardo DiCarpio.

The image was then posted on her Facebook page, drawing visitors from around the world, including from Iran and the Middle East.

While many criticized her "indecency", others praised her for "the courage to remove a taboo among the women in Muslim countries."

Iran's anger at the image is not just because of Farahani's nudity, but also because she has made it known that her decision to pose is in protest against restrictive Islamic codes.

Golshifteh Farahani

That was also the reason why the now-Paris-based actress left Iran last year.

She told the Daily Telegraph that she was told by a ministry of culture and Islamic guide official that Iran does not need any actors or artists. "You may offer your artistic services somewhere else."

Farahani has had a mercurial relationship with her home country.

She began acting in a theater at the age of six and her first film, The Pear Tree (1998), earned the then 14-year-old Farahani the Best Actress award at Iran's annual Fair Film Festival.

She immediately became a leading actress in her home country, yet her performance in the 2007 film Santouri has never been seen in Iran and is still banned.

She starred in M for Mother (2006), which after a huge success in Iran, was chosen to represent Iran for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards in 2008.

Farahani's role as a nurse in Ridley Scott's Body of Lies (2008), which also starred Hollywood big-hitters DiCarpio and Crowe, made her the first Iranian to act in a major Hollywood film.

As a result she was banned from leaving Iran, and now that she has left the country and is living in Paris, she was banned from returning.

Nevertheless, at least, she was brave to cross the line of traditional Islamic conservatism that only few would dare. To Iran, she may have been a disgrace, but to the modern day world, she was a heroine. Farahani only fought for herself - fighting for the right of being herself, and no fundamentalism could stop her.

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Pakistani model Veena Malik's nude photo causes fury

Veena Malik poses for FHM.

A Pakistani actress who posed in the nude for an Indian magazine with the initials of Pakistan's feared and powerful intelligence agency on her arm, ISI or Inter-Services Intelligence, has triggered fury across the conservative nation of Pakistan.

Veena Malik's photo on the website of FHM India, in advance of its publication in the magazine's December issue, has been lighting up social network websites since earlier this week.

Many people in Pakistan anticipate a backlash, as nationalists and Islamists regularly stage rallies against anything they deem an insult to Islam or to the national honor. India and Pakistan have fought three wars, and the Inter-Services Intelligence agency has been accused of sponsoring terrorist attacks inside India.

The liberated Malik has broken Pakistani religious 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 Aaj TV on Saturday that her latest venture into controversy was a "shame for all Muslims."

In an interview with Pakistani Geo television broadcast Saturday, however, Malik said the nude photo was published in violation of her agreement with FHM India and she was considering legal action against the magazine.

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.

Apparently, the photo was intended to poke fun at the Indian fear of Pakistani spies, she said, adding "whatever happens (in India), people say ISI is behind that."

Magazine editor Kabeer Sharma said Malik had given full consent for the shoot and the picture.

"We have all the record(s)," he told the Pakistani television station. "Veena was very excited about that ISI idea."

Zubair Khan, a 40-year-old shopkeeper in the northwestern city of Peshawar, agreed, saying the photo had given rival India another opportunity to insult Pakistan.

"She has earned a bad name for the entire Pakistan nation," he said.

Others questioned the authenticity of the photo.

"It seems to be an Indian attempt to malign Pakistan by faking her nude pics, or she might have done it to get a cheap publicity," said Lubna Khalid, 38, a housewife in the southern port city of Karachi.

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 does most of her work in India. The entertainment sector there is booming, while Pakistan's is moribund. Her ties to Pakistan's archrival have landed her in controversy in the past.

During a much-publicized talk show appearance early this year, she lashed out her nemesis Abdul Qawi, who criticized 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.

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