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“Raju Vernekar
Vernekar.raj@gmail.com
National Award winning choreographer Saroj Khan, who had honed the dancing skills of many actresses including Madhuri Dixit, passed away in the wee hours of 03 July, Friday, following cardiac arrest, at Guru Nanak Hospital at Bandra in North West Mumbai.
She was admitted to the hospital with breathing complaints on 17 June. She also suffered from diabetes. She had tested negative for coronavirus. The death came at 1.52 AM. She was 71 and is survived by her husband B. Sohanlal, son Hamid Khan ( choreographer Raju Khan) and daughters Hina Khan and Sukyna Khan.
Her mortal remains were taken to the Ahle Sunnat cemetery at Malad in North Mumbai, where her son Raju Khan performed last rites, in presence of family members. Burial took place in the cemetery near Malad Chowki.
Saroj Khan born as Nirmala Nagpal, joined the Indian film industry as a child artiste, playing the younger Shyama in “Nazarana”. She eventually became a background dancer in 1950s films like Bimal Roy’s “Madhumati” under the guidance of dance director B. Sohanlal.
She married Sohanlal, when she was barely 13 years old. They separated in 1965, got reunited and separated again. Then she tied the knot with Sardar Roshan Khan and had a daughter named Sukaina khan, who now runs a dance institute in Dubai.
After assisting B Sohanlal, as a dance choreographer for a few years, her first independent work came in “Geeta Mera Naam” (1974). She got noticed after she choreographed for Sridevi in “Mr. India” (1987) ( featuring Anil Kapoor and Sridevi) in a song “Hawa Hawai”. She worked with Sridevi in films like “Nagina” and “Chandni”. This was followed by her long-term partnership with Madhuri Dixit in the 1990s in songs like “Ek Do Teen” (Tezaab) (1988)” “Hum Ko Aaj Kal Hai Intezaar” (“Sailaab”) (1990), “Tamma Tamma”( Thanedaar) (1990). “Dhak Dhak Karne Laga”(Beta) (1992) and “Choli Ke Peeche Kya Hai” (Khal Nayak) (1993).
Her other popular films include “Baazigar”, “Mohra”, “Darr”, “Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge”, “Taal”, “Veer-Zaara”, “Pardes”, “Soldier”, “Don”, “Saawariya”, “Lagaan”, “Tanu Weds Manu Returns”, “Manikarnika” and many more. She won awards for “Devdas” (2002), “Jab We Met”, “Guru”, “Khalnayak” and “Chaalbaaz”. Her last work was the song “Tabaah Ho Gaye” from Kalank (2019) was filmed on Madhuri Dixit.”
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Saroj Khan had also judged dance reality shows like “Nach Baliye”, “Ustaadon Ka Ustaad”, “Boogie Woogie” and “Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa”.
In a career spanning forty years, she choreographed nearly 2000 songs. Her most successful collaborations were with actresses Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi.”
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Saroj Khan who claimed Madhuri Dixit as most favourite students among all, had said in many print and TV interviews that “”Madhuri is a naughty girl. Sometimes, I used to stumble while speaking in English and she would come quietly and correct me in my ears. We both had this joke amongst us. Later, if she had any films, she would call me and give details about the producer making the film. She would ask me to do the songs for her. That time the fashion was one master in a picture. Now, it has changed.”””
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“”Madhuri could pick up dance steps easily. She was a trained Kathak dancer and learnt for 12 years. But, the problem was she couldn’t shake her hip. In Kathak, you don’t shake your hip. She was a little slow in the beginning but she got the heck of it. Some times she used to weep. Then I used to console her saying MD, if you have to give best performance you should be firm, wipe those tears from your eyes. “ Ek Do Teen”(Sailaab) was the best performance of Madhuri which established her as a dancer.”
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Several film personalities and others condoled her death through twitters and Instagram messages. “Haath Jude Hain, Man Ashant” (Hands are tied up, mind is sad)- Amitabh Bachchan.
Madhuri Dixit-Nene “I’m devastated by the loss of my friend and guru, Saroj Khan. Will always be grateful for her work in helping me reach my full potential in dance. The world has lost an amazingly talented person. I will miss you. My sincere condolences to the family.#RIPSarojji.”
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Filmmaker Subhash Ghai tweeted, “”An era has gone”, absolutely my personal loss. An integral part of our “Mukta Arts” family, my strong partner in grooming stars like Madhuri, Meenaxi, Manisha n Ashwarya, “Master of masters”. Saroj Khan will live in history of choreography of Indian cinema indeed. Bye Jaan. RIP””
Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar tweeted, “”Woke up to the news that Saroj Khan is no more with us, Most talented trend setter choreographer of Film industry, My condolences to her family members & admirers. We will miss you. #RIP
Filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan tweeted, “”Rest in peace Sarojji.. u were an inspiration to many, myself included. Thank you for the songs #SarojKhan””
Akshay Kumar “Woke up to the sad news that legendary choreographer # Saroj Khanji is no more. She made dance look easy almost like anybody can dance, a huge loss for the industry. May her soul rest in peace”.
“Thank you for starting the fire for us dancers and choreographers”, Dancer-choreographer Melvin Louis wrote in an Instagram post, “”This is so heartbreaking RIP the Queen of grace and expressions , Saroj ji I was blessed to receive a winners trophy from you once , I touched your feet to seek your blessings and that moment is one of my best memories and is saved fresh as if it happened recently . Thank you for everything master ji , your work spoke wonders and volumes”.
Riteish Deshmukh wrote on Twitter, “”Rest in Peace Saroj Khan ji. This loss is immeasurable for the industry & film lovers. Having choreographed more than 2000 songs she single handedly changed the landscape of how songs were shot. I had the pleasure of being Choerographed by her in Aladin. One tick off my bucketlist””
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