Acclaimed dance choreographer
Saroj Khan passed away due to cardiac arrest at the age of 71 on Friday morning. In an illustrious career spanning for over four decades, she has composed steps for close to 2000 songs and won the National Award for her work in Devdas, Sringaram and Jab We Met. Fondly called as ‘Masterji’ among film circles, Saroj Khan was known to be a hard taskmaster and no-nonsense teacher. With her brilliant choreography, she delivered some of the most memorable songs of Hindi cinema to actresses like Sridevi and Madhuri Dixit which became instrumental in shaping up their respective careers.
Besides Bollywood, Khan has composed dance for several
Telugu films
which include Devi Putrudu, Daddy, Takkari Donga, Anji, Subhash Chandra Bose and Aata. She won the
Nandi Award
for ‘O Mariya’ song in
Choodalani Vundi
(1998) starring
Chiranjeevi and
Soundarya. During the time of release, the peppy number created a rage in theaters and the graceful dance moves of both the lead actors was immensely appreciated by the audience.
Saroj Khan flagged off her film career at the age of three as a child artiste. After working as a background dancer for several years under the mentorship of B Sohanlal, she turned into an assistant choreographer and eventually, bagged her first independent work with Geeta Mera Naam (1974). However, it was ‘Hawa Hawai’ song in Mr India (1987) that brought her fame and stardom. Saroj Khan holds the record of maximum Filmfare awards with 8 trophies.
Start a Conversation
Post comment