Life in pictures: Saroj Khan made Bollywood dance to her tunes

Legendary Indian choreographer Saroj Khan, who died on July 3, will be best remembered as one who injected grace and soul into Hindi songs with her classy dance moves.

The prolific dance choreographer and dance maestro Khan, who died in Mumbai following a cardiac arrest, breathed life into more than 2,000 Hindi songs with her masterful dance movements.

Although Khan started out in the early seventies, she really became a household name in the mid to late eighties, first directing some memorable dances for Sridevi and then Madhuri Dixit Nene, the reigning superstars of the era.

Called fondly by Bollywood insiders as ‘Masterji’, her collaboration with top actress Madhuri Dixit Nene is a bright spot in her career spanning four decades. Their songs like ‘Ek Do Teen’ and ‘Dhak Dhak’ from the 1990s were bonafide blockbusters where the actresses’ expressions were as important as those graceful moves.

She wasn’t a choreographer who depended on a robust tribe of skimpily-clad background dancers, but relied on the actors’ and their exaggerated expressions to do all the talking.

Her choreography with Bachchan and Dixit in ‘Dola Re’ in the lavish period romance ‘Devdas’ stands proof to her spectacular talents as a choreographer, which won her an Indian National Award as well in 2003.

Khan won the Indian National Award thrice in her lifetime. In 2006, she was a recipient of the award for all the songs she choreographed in the Tamil film, ‘Sringaram’. In 2008, she won the award for the song ‘Yeh Ishq Haaye’ filmed on Kareena Kapoor in ‘Jab We Met’.

Born as Nirmala Nagpal, Khan joined the Hindi film industry as a child artiste in the film ‘Nazrana’ and soon became a background dancer. She has won several awards in the choreography department for films including ‘Tezaab’, ‘Chaal Baaz’, ‘Beta’ and ‘Khal Nayak’.

Khan started out choreographing with the 1974 film, ‘Geeta Mera Naam’. She directed songs for the Tamil film ‘Thai Veedu’ in 1983, and also worked in Subhash Ghai’s superhit ‘Hero’ the same year.

It was the 1986 film, ‘Nagina’ that made her a household name. Sridevi’s iconic dance ‘Main naagin tu sapera’ in that film continues to be a popular number even today.

Lately, Khan has been selective with signing new projects. Her recent works include choreographing Kangana Ranaut in ‘Manikarnika’ last year and ‘Tanu Weds Manu Returns’ in 2015.

Her last major assignment has been directing Madhuri’s moves in last year’s release, ‘Kalank’.

Khan, born in 1948, started out in films at the age of three as a child artiste before a stint as a back-up dancer in the fifties. She is survived by her husband, son and two daughters. (With inputs from IANS)