Birthday Special Saroj Khan: There was one Saroj Khan, does anyone remember?

I am guilty. I promised myself I would write an accurate article on Saroj Khan ji. I had met him hundreds of times. I have seen her dancing firsthand, how she teaches dance to others, and how people reach great heights in dance under her guidance. Whenever I met him while shooting one of his dance sequences, I chatted with him and mentioned him in my columns and in some articles I wrote about people and films. I kept postponing my promise to write an article about him. Then I was out of work and could neither go to the studio to see the shooting nor talk to the stars and star producers. At the same time, I met with a terrible accident which ended all my happy moments. Now see what happened in the end... ‘Masterji’ Saroj Khan has danced for eternity in her own way. Now I have to keep my promise and I have to write something that doesn't read like sad news. This should be seen as a piece that I wrote when she was alive and full of joy. Dance was not only her way of living but also her life.

I have known Saroj ji since the time I started my career. But when I met him during the shooting of films made by Boney Kapoor, Subhash Ghai, N.Chandra and Rajeev Rai, I got to know him better. We first talked at length during the filming of the song 'Kaate Nahi Katte Din Ye Raat' from 'Mr. India', in which she was giving a new life to Sridevi and during the erotic dance performed by Sridevi several times, I And many people like me were wondering who is better? Sridevi or the master teaching her. I don't need to say how that one dance made a huge difference in Sridevi's career. One afternoon we sat in a make-up room at Filmistan Studios and she told me a little about herself... Saroj (also known as Nirmala), born in a Hindu family with the name Saroj Kishanchand Sadhu Singh Nagpal She had come here from Pakistan. She played her first role as a three-year-old girl in the film 'Nazarana'. His inclination towards dancing was natural and he started by dancing in a group of dancers.Sohanlal, a leading choreographer of the sixties, was her mentor, who not only taught her to take dance seriously in films, but also married her, even though there was a huge age difference between them and the marriage was long overdue. Didn't last till. After that she married Sardar Roshan Khan. With whom he had two daughters and a son. Her husband died early. She was a single mother who raised her children on her own. She got her first break as a choreographer in a film named ‘Geeta Mera Naam’ which was directed by Sadhna, a very popular actress of the sixties and after this there was no stopping Saroj Khan from dancing to success. It is beyond imagination to believe that he choreographed two thousand films in forty years and worked with all the major directors and stars, both male and female. He will be best remembered as a choreographer in films made by directors like Yash Chopra, Subhash Ghai, N. Chandra and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.He has worked with Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, Manisha Koirala, Meenakshi Sheshadri. , literally changed the career graph of actresses like Aishwarya Rai and...how many more names do I need to mention? She was at her best when choreographing the dances of actors like Govinda, Shah Rukh Khan, who called her his first teacher in the industry, and Akshay Kumar, even Amitabh Bachchan. When she was in charge of a dance sequence, even the best and most experienced directors had to sit back, leaving everything to her until the dance was filmed in sync with the song. Not only this, she also had complete control over the camera and knew how to use it to capture a dance to perfection. It was very exciting to see big male directors having so much faith in her and having no alternative to her and seeing a woman taking the shot in front of her. This was the best tribute given to her talent that many directors and stars said that they had no parallel or alternative to her and she lived up to people's expectations every time.P Many other choreographers like L Raj, Vijay-Oscar, Chinni Prakash, Shiamak Davar and Vaibhavi Merchant were her young competitors, but their competition did not matter to the lady as she was always respected and accepted as the queen of dance. Was. She was versatile in the field of dance which made her the best among all the talented artists. On the basis of this excellence, she won awards and praise everywhere and became the first choreographer to win three National Awards and eight Filmfare Awards. Which she deserved. There was supposed to be a biopic on her life, but she was happy with a docudrama based on her life and her passion for dance. I could have written a book about him if I had spent more time with him and if he had more time to spend with me, but that didn't happen. This became a major regret for my life and profession.I remember asking her about her conversion to Islam and she could tell me the real story only years after I first met her, that is, after she got to know me well. She said that she was a Hindu, but she did not find all the reasons to be happy as a Hindu so she decided to convert to Islam. In her story she told me about her conversion, she said that she had gone to the Jumma Masjid in Bombay and told the clerics there that she wanted to convert. He asked him whether he was being forced or pressurized to convert. They said no, she is doing this of her own free will. She also told me that she had told the clerics that she had lost her daughter who had come to her in her dreams and was calling her from inside a mosque. I had forgotten this story. I remembered this story told by him again this morning when the news of his departure from this life spread and my young friend Zain Hussain from Dubai, who is in touch with all the people associated with the film industry, called me. And got me to confirm the story of Saroj Khan's religious conversion. Two hours later, I saw Saroj giving a live interview and I heard her telling the same story about her religious conversion.I was guilty of blaming the so popular Saroj ji or Master ji. Haven't written anything till now and started writing this tribute article. I still feel guilty, but I'm hopeful that a little bit of my guilt will be washed away after this little effort I've made. I could not do anything for him while he was alive. She used to say that dance is the best panacea for all diseases, pain and even depression. It's hard to believe what she believed, but what's the harm in trying to believe it? And whenever someone very dear and close dies, I feel like remembering what my favorite Devananda said about death, he said to me, Why do people think of death as so scary and sad? Why don't we think that there might be a better life to welcome us after we leave this world?

I do not believe in illusions like heaven or hell, but at times I indulge in such illusions. I also want to believe. This is a time when I want to believe that there is heaven and Saroj Khan has been welcomed into that heaven by a group of angels dancing like the dances she taught Madhuri and other actresses on earth. Thank heaven for welcoming our earth's favorite lady! I don't believe in heaven at all. But when a person like Saroj Khan dies and people say that God has given her a place in heaven, then one feels like believing in heaven.

O Re PiyaO darling Why did my mind start flying crazy? Where did this courage come from? O darling The wind weaves a web, a web Even the drops don't come here Where is Sara involved in the conspiracy? This is the request of every bit O darling... Eyes speak, world speaks, heart speaks Ask for love, want love, some storm walk slowly, love is new First of all we have made this promise O darling... Coals on bare feet, kept walking It seems that I am growing up in the streets. Take me there, the country is yours The illiterate world is my enemy. O darling... Movie- Aaja Nachle Artist- Madhuri Dixit Singer- Rahat Fateh Ali Khan Musician- Salim-Sulaiman Lyricist- Jaideep Sahni