Bollywood mourns Saroj Khan
Veteran choreographer brought Hindi songs alive on screen through dance
Long before Bollywood dances were simply acrobatic and borderline vulgar with their hyper-sexualised moves, there was Indian choreographer Saroj Khan who injected grace and soul into Hindi songs.
Prolific choreographer Khan, who died in Mumbai yesterday due to a cardiac arrest, breathed life into more than 2,000 Hindi songs with her masterful dance movements.
Called fondly by Bollywood insiders as ‘Masterji’, her collaboration with top actress Madhuri Dixit is a bright spot in her career spanning four decades.
Their songs like Ek Do Teen and
Dhak Dhak from the 1990s were bona fide blockbusters where the actress’ expressions were as important as those graceful moves. Khan wasn’t a choreographer who depended on a tribe of skimpilyclad background dancers, but relied on the actors and their exaggerated expressions to do all the talking.
Her dance moves that were executed by Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in love triangle Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and late actress Sridevi in Hawa Hawaai were masterclasses in blending classical moves with popular Bollywood tunes. Her choreography with Rai Bachchan and Dixit in Dola Re in the lavish period romance Devdas is proof to her spectacular talents as a choreographer.
CHILD ARTIST
Born as Nirmala Nagpal, Khan joined the Hindi film industry as a child artist in the film Nazrana and soon became a background dancer. She worked under choreographer B Sohanlal, who later became her husband.
She burst onto the scene as an independent choreographer in 1974 with Geeta Mera Naam, but fame and success courted her much later when she began working with the likes of top actors like Sridevi and Dixit. Khan won several awards in the choreography department for films including Tezaab, Chaal Baaz, Beta and Khal Nayak. She was honoured with the Indian National Award three times in her career, along with bagging several popular Bollywood awards.
While her career flourished during the 1990s, it started waning in the last few years. But Khan kept herself relevant by judging reality TV shows like Nach Baliye and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa.
RIFT WITH STARS
She famously met with actor Salman Khan claiming she was ‘out of work’ in 2019 and needed films desperately. She reportedly had a fallout with Salman Khan in 2008 while filming the dance for Andaaz Apna Apna, but the two made up a decade later.
According to reports, that rift between her and a superstar cost her a few plum projects. She was also a purist at heart, who believed that being classy can never go out of style. Khan was openly critical of choreographers like Shiamak Davar and believed that their dance moves were acrobatic rather than fluid, classic motions.
VIEWS ON SEXUAL MISCONDUCT
However, Khan’s life wasn’t always smooth and fluid. The self-made choreographer had to apologise for her bizarre logic around sexual misconduct at the workplace. In April 2018, she expressed her views on the casting couch as a means for providing livelihoods for aspiring actors. Her problematic and unsympathetic take that sexual misconduct in Bollywood takes place with the consent of the woman or man in question (“At least they don’t use and dump you. They give you work”) unleashed a barrage of criticism against the choreographer. Khan apologised for her views on the sensitive subject, but she wasn’t easily forgiven by digital warriors and actors.
Interestingly, she has also spoken up against alleged sexual abuse of backup dancers by her colleague Ganesh Acharya. Khan has openly spoken about dancers being exploited under the hands of powerful choreographers.
Her life wasn’t as perfect as her choreography, but it was definitely an eventful one. In an interview with Gulf News, her daughter Sunaina Khan described her mother as an ‘absolute legend’ (see box).
MASTER OF RE-INVENTION
Khan was also a ‘Masterji’ of re-invention. She also tried her hand at writing stories for Bollywood films. She turned screenwriter for films including Dil Tera Deewana and Khanjar, but this wasn’t as successful as her dancing career.
Despite the ups and downs, Khan’s success in Bollywood makes her a portrait of anti-nepotism. She was a self-made choreographer who made it in Bollywood through her own steam. There’s no denying that she brought out the best in the likes of Madhuri Dixit, Rai Bachchan and Sridevi. She could bust some serious Bollywood moves, but Khan made it look spectacularly classy and effortless.