DANCING QUEEN: TRIBUTES PAID TO SAROJ KHAN
WHY HINDI CINEMA’S CHOREOGRAPHY QUEEN WAS A GAMECHANGER
LE ENDAR Bollywood choreographer Saroj han died in a Mumbai hospital after a cardiac arrest, aged . It was a heart-breaking end to a lifelong journey dedicated to dance, which entertained many millions across different generations and helped give Hindi cinema its unique identity. The dance doyenne’s parents migrated to India from Pakistan during Partition and shortly afterwards, she was born as Nirmala Nagpal on November 22, 19 8. Her parents were wealthy in Pakistan, but lost everything, so the confident youngster started working in films as a child artist at the age of three because her parents needed the money. The child actor’s flair in front of the camera led to more work and she began supporting the family. This then led to her working as a background dancer in the 1950s as a 10-year-old and her first group dance was for Madhubala song Aaiye e herbaan from classic film o rah ridge (1958), where she was dressed as a boy. Renowned dance master B Sohanlal was so impressed with the young Saroj that he elevated her to become his assistant choreographer a few years later at just 13 and they married a year later, despite a 30-year age gap. Their marriage wasn’t long lived as it emerged he secretly had a wife and kids, but she later credited him for moulding her into the great choreographer she became. The first major song she taught as an assistant was a complex classical number to Bollywood’s great dancer of the black and white era, yjayanthimala, for film r idya (1962). The first song she choreographed was igahen i ane o ee hahta ai from i i Toh ai (1963) as a 1 -year-old, which was picturised on Nutan. The teenager won great respect for the dance number and slowly worked her way up through the male-dominated dance domain in the decade that followed as an assistant. In 197 , she finally got her big break as an independent choreographer with eetaa era aam thanks to legendary actress Sadhna, which became a commercially successful film. She continued to mastermind dance numbers in high-profile films and by the mid-1980s, was the most in-demand choreographer in Bollywood. Then it was two dynamite dance numbers with Bollywood queen Sridevi that took the choreography star interstellar. The first was the stunning snake dance ain Teri ushman ushman Tu era in agina (1986) and the fun-filled a a a ai in r ndia (1987). Suddenly, choreographers were brought to the forefront in a way not seen before. That rumble of thunder soon turned into a fullfledged lightning storm the following year with Te aab song E o Teen, which reintroduced the item number back into Bollywood in a major way and started her dream run with Madhuri Dixit. The greatest dance partnership in cinema history would help Madhuri become the new queen of Bollywood and raise choreography to levels not seen before in Hindi cinema. The game-changing E o Teen was so popular that it helped Te aab become the highest grossing film of 1988 and inspired the Filmfare Awards to introduce the Best Choreography Award, with Saroj being the first recipient of it. Saroj would win five out of the first six available Filmfare Best Choreography Awards and had every leading lady fighting to work with her. Her award winning eta (1992) song ha ha arne Laga was so popular that Madhuri got the nickname ha ha girl. Saroj was so in demand that others benefitted from songs she didn’t take up, including Farah Khan, who got her first break as a choreographer when Saroj walked out of o eeta ohi Si andar (1992). Songs Saroj would create with Madhuri like ho i e eeche (1993) in ha naya generated headlines globally and expanded the boundaries of Bollywood dance. Saroj choreographed Aishwarya Rai Bachchan’s superstarmaking
Images movies um i e hu e Sanam (1999), Taa (1999) and evdas AFP/Getty (2002). Her stunning evdas number oa Re oa , which teamed up Aishwarya and Madhuri, Mukherjee would be voted as the greatest of all time. As the new millennium commenced, a new generation Indranil of younger choreographers gave her tough competition © and instead of respecting her, many bad-mouthed the dance legend, but she continued to power on, winning major awards for dances in films like uru (2007) and ab e et (2007). With over 2,000 songs to her name, Saroj would win eight Filmfare Awards in total and three National Awards, but would have won more if the awards were instituted earlier and had dark nepotistic forces in Bollywood not tried extinguishing her light. She continued to choreograph and teach dance right until the end, but the last decade was difficult. While a select few like Madhuri stood steadfastly by her side till the end, less talented rivals mocked Saroj and got her blacklisted from major film banners. Saroj transformed dance in Hindi cinema and gave choreographers a voice, but got slowly pushed out by those she had opened the door for. If dance has dipped dramatically in the past decade, it is because the greatest was mocked by high-profile, envious rivals and blacklisted by banners, who put nepotism ahead of talent. But Saroj carried on doing what she loved. She was happy to choreograph smaller films and continued to teach dance to a new generation that wanted to learn. If a new generation of choreographers, filmmakers and stars didn’t show her the love she deserved, the same is not the case for true film fans, who will continue enjoying her incredible body of work.
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