Before Nikkah: UK Cinema Release

Before Nikkah went into UK cinemas across Valentine’s week 2025 — a four-city independent release built on word of mouth.

Where it played

• 12 February · Genesis Cinema, London
• 13 February · Arthouse, Crouch End, London
• 14–20 February · National Science and Media Museum, Bradford
• 16 February · HOME, Manchester

The film

Before Nikkah is a modern rom-com that challenges tradition and expectation. Inspired by Before Sunrise, this beautifully human and humorous comedy follows Sara and Isaam — two strangers fated to meet in advance of a possible marriage they do not want, who end up spending the day together to kill time.

Directed by Haider Zafar, it is a two-hander that trusts conversation to carry a film — the hardest thing to pull off on an independent budget, and the thing audiences responded to.

The run put the film into Screen Daily’s box office report alongside that week’s studio releases.