Salma Agha born to a wealthy father and in Karachi, moved to London at age 9. She was married at 16 years of age to a prominent Pakistani settled in London. A divorce soon followed. Salma along with sister Sabina produced and sang for a record called AGHA - Salma and Sabina Agha sing ABBA hits in Hindi. The record made a few waves and was applauded by critics. However, it didn't create any major ripples in the Hindi film circles at the time. When acclaimed Indian director Raj Kapoor was at the London reception of his son Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh's wedding. He invited his cousin Zarina Agha (Salma's mother) to the reception. Present at the wedding were many other prominent Indian directors, including B.R. Chopra. Chopra had just finished a female oriented hit with Zeenat Aman called Insaf Ka Tarazu. He had just commissioned a heroine oriented movie called 'Talaq Talaq Talaq' and was on the look out for a Muslim actress. Zeenat Aman (even though, half Muslim) he felt had a much too urban look to portray the character of Neelofar in his movie. Raj Kappor too was on the lookout for a muslim girl his movie 'Hina'. Soon Raj Kapoor nixed plans of Hina and went ahead with 'Prem Rog'. Hearing that Chopra was looking for a muslim girl, Salma flew to Bombay to meet him, using her Uncle Raj Kapoor's connection. Salma was soon hired. When the music directors heard Salma's ABBA hits they signed her on to sing her own playback songs. The songs were a huge success even before the movie was released. The movie got stuck with the Islamic clerics who were to approve the movie before its release. They insisted on a name change and Chopra rechristened the movie "Nikah". The movie went on to be a huge success and is considered a classic. It is one of the strongest debuts for an actress and a huge vehicle for a newcomer.