This movie became Salma’s second release and another hit. The movie was publicised with huge pictures of Salma, which in turn upset and overshadowed Mithun. Subhash’s “Kasam Paida Karne Wale Ki” with Mithun and Smita Patil. Finally, after her break with Mehmood Sipra, she agreed on a 180 degree turn on her character and signed B. Thankfully, her pictures were constantly in every magazine even though she hadn’t had a release since Nikaah and refused most offers made to her. Both movies were shelved and Salma was left without a husband or career. Sipra’s divorce came through while his love affair with Salma began to fade. However, Salma wasn’t interested in movies much, she soon hooked up with Mehmood Sipra, a NYC business man, who made Salma drop all her movie assignments and produced movies for her, beginning with Begum Sahiba and Bebasi. Salma soon purchased Reena Roy’s apartment in Bandra, while Reena packed bags to move to London with her new husband cricketer Mohsin Khan. It is one of the strongest debuts for an actress and a huge vehicle for a newcomer. The movie went on to be a huge success and is considered a classic. They insisted on a name change and Chopra rechristened the movie “Nikah”. The movie got stuck with the Islamic clerics who were to approve the movie before its release.

The songs were a huge success even before the movie was released. When the music directors heard Salma’s ABBA hits they signed her on to sing her own playback songs. Hearing that Chopra was looking for a muslim girl, Salma flew to Bombay to meet him, using her Uncle Raj Kapoor’s connection. Soon Raj Kapoor nixed plans of Hina and went ahead with ‘Prem Rog’. Raj Kappor too was on the lookout for a muslim girl his movie ‘Hina’. Zeenat Aman (even though, half Muslim) he felt had a much too urban look to portray the character of Neelofar in his movie. He had just commissioned a heroine oriented movie called ‘Talaq Talaq Talaq’ and was on the look out for a Muslim actress. Chopra had just finished a female oriented hit with Zeenat Aman called Insaf Ka Tarazu.

Present at the wedding were many other prominent Indian directors, including B.R. He invited his cousin Zarina Agha (Salma’s mother) to the reception. When acclaimed Indian director Raj Kapoor was at the London reception of his son Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh’s wedding. However, it didn’t create any major ripples in the Hindi film circles at the time. The record made a few waves and was applauded by critics. Salma along with sister Sabina produced and sang for a record called AGHA – Salma and Sabina Agha sing ABBA hits in Hindi. She was married at 16 years of age to a prominent Pakistani settled in London. Salma Agha born to a wealthy father and in Karachi, moved to London at age 9.

Nikaah salma agha pictures