Famous Bollywood choreographer dies

Saroj Khan (pic), an iconic Bollywood choreographer whose dance proteges include actresses Madhuri Dixit and Sridevi, died of cardiac arrest yesterday after being admitted to a Mumbai hospital last month with breathing difficulties. She was 71.

Born Nirmala Nagpal, Saroj debuted as an assistant choreographer in 1960 with Kalpana, and honed her craft on several films before making her debut as a choreographer with 1974’s Geeta Mera Naam.

It was in the 1980s and 1990s that she became a household name across India for her collaborations with Dixit and Sridevi.

Her memorable associations with Dixit include Tezaab, Beta and Khalnaayak, while with Sridevi her best work includes Shekhar Kapur’s Mr India, Nagina and Chandni.

One of Saroj’s most famous works was Devdas, which premiered in Cannes in 2002, and where she worked with Dixit and Aishwarya Rai-Bachchan.

Saroj amassed more than 300 film credits, having choreographed more than 2,000 songs.

She won India’s National Film Award for choreography three times: for Devdas, Sringaram and Jab We Met.

She also won the American Choreography Award twice, for her work in Hum Dil Che Chuke Sanam,

and the Oscar-nominated Lagaan: Once Upon A Time In India.

Her last film credit was 2019’s Kalank, where she reunited with Dixit.

She is survived by her husband, veteran choreographer B. Sohanlal, with whom she made her debut as an assistant, son Hamid and daughters Hina and Sukyna.