I have never been lucky in love, says Veena Malik

She has been in the news for her relationships with Pakistan cricketer Mohammed Asif and her closeness to Bollywood actor Ashmit Patel and about whom she candidly says that "we liked each other and we are good friends".

Veena entered Indian small screen as a participant in the reality show ‘Bigg Boss', last season.  And now she is set to find a groom on national television with the show ‘Swayamvar - Veena Ka Vivaah’, where a celebrity finds his or her bride or bridegroom.

"I won't lie about Ashmit. We liked each other and we got stuck there. Today we are good friends. I share my work related issues with him. We are really good friends now. I have never been lucky in love. My relations in the past never worked out," Veena told PTI in an interview.

The first season of the show -- ‘Rakhi Ka Swayamvar’ started in June 2009, with item girl Rakhi Sawant selecting Elesh Parujanwala, a Canadian businessman from Toronto.

In the Season Two, titled 'Rahul Dulhaniya Le Jayega', featured late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan’s son Rahul as the groom looking for a bride and who chose Dimpy Ganguly.

The third season of the show 'Ratan Ka Rishta' featured television actress Ratan Rajput who was looking for a groom and eventually was engaged to Abhinav Sharma.

And the fourth season of the show will see Veena looking for her 'Mr Right' on the show.

Ask Veena if she is apprehensive about the reception to this show in Pakistan, and she says, "People in Pakistan love Bollywood and there is no Indian movie that we do not watch. We love Indian culture also so much that we wear sarees nowadays for functions rather than salwar kameez."

"It is an honour for a Pakistani to do such a show. It is only a section of people who had issues in the past. But that was settled and everything was fine now," she said.

But did she ever dream to getting married on national television ? Pat comes the reply, "Not at all until the show came to me. When I was offered Swayamvar, I consulted my parents and you won't believe, they were more excited than me. My father asked me to give one more chance as I might find my Mr Right."

"I am a celebrity. Whatever happens in my life becomes public knowledge. I think that it is safe to get married on such a platform because you get to know some genuine people.

The people who are fake slowly get eliminated from the show. We indeed have a lot of fans and followers who try to reach us desperately, but we do not know what the intentions are. Hence for me I think this is a good platform," she said.

Considering the participants might not show their genuine side, Veena did have some apprehensions before taking up the show.

"I had that apprehension that guys might show their true colours and that was the reason that it took six months for me to sign this show. I am sure that the tasks given to them would be of some help. Even if I miss something, I am sure the cameras won’t. I think nothing could be more perfect than this platform," she said.

About the qualities she would check to find her mate, she says, "Like any other girl, pure and unconditional love comes first for me. And second is money because if I say money is not important, then I will be lying and then comes good looks. There are several other things that I am looking for, but these come first."