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SAROJ KHAN OPENED THE DOORS OF CHOREOGRAPHY FOR FEMALES: VAIBHAVI
Rishabh Suri
Choreographer Vaibhavi Merchant has always looked up to late choreographer Saroj Khan, not just as a senior but also for the fact that Khan opened the doors of Bollywood choreography for women. “It’s because of her and her choreography in Ek Do Teen (Tezaab, 1988) that the category of Best Choreography was created in the first place. It is because of her we all get nominated now,” she says.
Discipline on set was something Khan was strict about, Merchant reveals, adding, “She came out through a lot of hardships. Imagine, she actually entered the choreography industry when it was dominated by male choreographers, and she was never really given a chance to prove her mettle.”
The Kajra Re (Bunty Aur Babli, 2005) choreographer, who co-judged the third season of the dance show Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa with Khan, also feels the latter may have even had projects taken away from her. “If she (Khan) got a job, there was always somebody who must’ve pushed her out of the project. Imagine, for her to have come from that time, and then to change that somehow. She has struggled to find jobs, therefore she valued it. She’d never forget that this is bread and butter, something you should never shy away from,” Merchant fondly recalls, referring to the experiences she had as a Pandora’s Box. “I used to be fascinated with how it used to be when she had started off. She had a legacy and a body of work,” she signs off.