Nikah was a major success in the summer of '98, scoring another hit for Sangeeta who had already hit the jackpot with Khilona a couple of years before. The films success cemented Reema's position at the top of the ladder (though Saima's Chooriyan was going to change that in the months to come) and also helped Shaan in his rehabilitation after a dreadful run in the mid 90's when he dropped out of the scene completely.

Nikah was a major step in the right direction for Shaan and also catapulted Madame Sangeeta to the highest bracket for directors. Nikah's story is a well worn, tried and tested Lollywood formula where the modestly earning but fiercely proud and upright man (in this case Shaan) marries a girl who ends up feeling stifled by his poverty leading to a tragic breakdown. In Nikah, we have the honest, decent, if not very wealthy government servant (magistrate) taking a fancy to Reema at a friends wedding. In the space of a couple of songs, the two fall madly in love and soon its time for marriage plans. When Shaan tries to approach Reema's family for her their daughters hand he is stunned to find that his future mother in law rejects him outright, citing his modest income as well as his religious conservatism which she views as backwardness as reason enough. A feisty Reema stands by her man and marry's him despite her mothers tolling the bells of doom.

At first things appear blissful but soon cracks begin to appear as Reema starts to feel as though she is missing out on some of the finer things in life and that her freedom is being compromised in her home with mullah mother in law. One evening Reema gets it in the neck for playing on the rooftop with her son in the monsoon rain - because according to her mother-in-law she was displaying herself for the entire community to gawk at. Then Reema has her mind poisoned by her Bua against her mother-in-law and slowly but surely the marriage begins to come under extreme strain. Just as all appears lost, there appears a glimmer of hope in the young son who might miraculously manage to bring both parents together again - but at what price?

Madame Sangeeta has pulled off an effective tearjerker with Nikah which not only did roaring business but earned her some terrific press and established her as an "A" league director, for what its worth. Reema turns in a winning performance and in general the acting is fairly strong, however Shaan is so earnest and so stylized and deliberate that he is less natural for it. His acting is mannered and though he certainly makes an effort and a laudable one at that, the problem is that his effort shows through in his acting. The evil, scheming woman who plays the role of Reema's mother plays her role superbly while the tarty Laila is thankfully marginalized to a bit role and one song. Nirma too makes an appearance in a brief role and in no way suggests that she is leading lady material for the future. There are a few trademark cheap vulgar dialogues along the way and the usual double entendres and suggestive use of words but nothing serious in the vulgarity stakes. Even the songs are tolerable and one mega-hit pop song (GT Road te braikan) was included and shot with laughable results in Madame Sangeeta's own patented MTV-ishtyle.

However this is one of those rare movies for which families braved the ghastly local cinemas and even the middle classes were lured away from their VCR's and air-conditioned comfort. Nikah is far from being a classic and is a carbon copy of a plethora of similar films before it (Sheeshay ka Ghar and Aina just to mention a couple) yet it still qualifies as a feather in Madame Sangeeta's amazingly well endowed hat.